looks awful. what's with this obsession that run-of-the-mill humor and CGI overload makes things good? I kind of like the Rock and Kevin Hart, but this just feels so forced. like a think-tank or group of executives were in a room and thought "what is the safest way to reboot a beloved property, what tone can we put in to be safe? what actors can we put in to gurantee popcorn stuffing audiences will show up?"
I think what disgusts me a little bit about this reboot is that it's sort of a slap in the face to the 90s film with Robin Williams. The tone of that film took itself SLIGHTLY serious, and worked extremely well. Sure- it was goofy and crazy at moments, but also a little bit creepy and disconcerting as well. And the focus of story, the mysterious boardgame, was certainly kept in a serious tone. Robin Williams was incredible and the entire cast had fun but took themselves a LITTLE seriously.
It's like, I love Jack Black, and I'm not saying this won't end up being fun at all- but why use the Jumanji name? I mean if they're going to slap the OG film in the face by not even keeping the classic boardgame look (which worked because it was a timeless thing that could have been passed through the ages, unlike an Atari looking 'Jumanji' game) it makes you wonder why bother retaining the name.
Seems like Sony has mega missed the ball again with rebooting a beloved property to make a quick buck. Sort of like how they were mega out of touch with what general audiences would want for a Ghostbusters film (not an agenda driven popcorn schlocky mess), it seems they may be out of touch with this as well.
Jumanji seems so inherently connected to a sort of paranomal creepy vibe, I don't understand why they would go 100% popcorn schlocky silly with this. The way to reboot this would have been to maintain SOME level of seriousness and to certainly keep certain elements (again, at minimum maintain the classic fucking boardgame look instead of some hilariously dumb Atari 2600 version).
Just rubs me the wrong way. and makes me think Sony has no respect or understanding of why people love some of the properties that they have movie rights control over.
This looks like a decent summer popcorn kind of flick- but it doesn't like like a good Jumanji movie and frankly seems unecessary. Should have named it something else because it frankly doesn't really seem that similar to the OG film. I recently rewatched Jumanji and besides some CGI effects it's aged really well in terms of just being an enjoyable film to watch.
Some will say the haters are just focused on Robin Williams and won't like a new film because it can't involve him- but I disagree. Yes, a big part of why Jumanji worked was BECAUSE of Robin Williams- he makes you believe a story- but I also think a strong part was the directing and tone. a fantastic blend of silly and creepy.
To essentially entirely axe the creepy / mysterious element is just wrong. This looks like Jumanji meets Journey to the Center of the Earth meets 21 Jump Street. And while on its own that doesn't necessarily sound terrible- it is completely wrong for a Jumanji reboot and not what fans of the original would want. If anything can be said about the Robin Williams film- its that its far from forgettable.
Also note: there's a problem when the effects of the 2018 film character getting sucked into the game looks worse than the 1990s effects when Robin Williams got sucked into the game as a kid. In all seriousness, the CGI doesn't look particularly better in the trailer than the old film. Which is hilarious
Not a happy camper with this.
