Jumanji: The Next Level

Jumanji: The Next Level keeps the same upbeat and liveliness of its 2017 predecessor. It follows the same body-swap comedy that is at the heart of this franchise. The teenage characters are back and have been separated for their first semester at college and are on a holiday break where they plan to reunite. Spencer gets sucked back into the game when he desires to be back in the body of Dwayne Johnson's avatar. His friends recognize what happened and plan a rescue mission.


This film changes things up with placing the characters in different avatars from who they were in the first movie. Martha takes the form of Karen Gillan, Fridge is now Jack Black, and Johnson and Kevin Hart are inhabited by Danny Devito and Danny Glover. Johnson does a spot-on imitation of Devito while Hart does an exact spot-on imitation of Glover. The introduction of these two characters keeps audiences laughing the entire time and boosts the amusement from the first film. The movie continues to go into the complications and complexity of body-swaps and even introduces Awkwafina as a new avatar.


The laughing factor purely outdoes the first film. Hart does a bit of the slow-talking of Danny Glover's character which is hilarious. The way the Rock scrunches up his face and says huh like Devito is pure comedy. This body-swap allows two actors we are familiar with to enter new areas of old-fashioned comedy and prove that they are the new faces of the genre.


The movie does rework its formula but the actual people are uninspiring and feel surface level. Their personas all swap but they don't grow or develop at all. The share lessons that feel like a self-improvement video. Danny Devito and Danny Glover address a rift in their friendship that occurred a long time ago and the kids just learn the things they learned from the first film. There is no attachment to the characters of the film. There could be more dynamic between Hart, Balck, and Awkwafina but their comedic chops are wasted.


In the end, the performers give a high level of energy to their characters and the action. There plenty of laughs in this sequel and it is the perfect movie for the holiday season where audiences crave a movie with adventure and action. The film's ending also sets up a story for future films of the franchise to come.