After being delayed a number of times, Jungle Cruise has finally released in theaters and on Disney+. I’ve been pretty excited for this movie because of the trailers and the cast. I'm a big fan of both Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt. So how is this movie? Let’s talk about it!
The Good:
For me the best thing about this movie was the cast. Everybody in this movie is a lot of fun, charming, and fits their roles greatly in this movie. In the lead is Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt who have great chemistry with one another, and while they are great together they stand alone. The chemistry works when it’s them bickering back and forth, but also the romance side of it worked for me. Johnson and Blunt know how to lead Hollywood blockbusters like this, they can be fun and charming when they need to be. Jack Whitehall is Emily Blunt’s younger brother in the movie, and he’s a lot of fun playing this fish out of water character that doesn’t want to be here, but is here because he wants to make sure that his sister is in good hands. Some fun dynamics, all around.
It’s also a movie that I was never bored by, it’s a very quick moving adventure that is trying to entertain the audience. There is always something happening on screen whether it’s a joke or an action sequence to keep you engaged while you are watching this movie. So far in 2021, this is one of the most fun movies that I’ve seen.
The humor of the movie worked for me, my theater and I were laughing out loud in this movie. And everybody gets some sort of joke that makes me laugh. Dwayne Johnson would be the funniest character of the movie, he has all of the charm that he brings to his movies. It also has some great dad jokes that made me laugh and some of the characters in the movie are cringy, but the audience was laughing. The fish out of water comedy that Jack Whitehall brings worked for me. And Emily Blunt’s character isn’t necessarily written to be a funny character, but she just has this charm about her that provides some jokes.
This is a super slick Disney blockbuster adventure that is professional shot and looks great. I’m sure most of this movie was filmed on a set, but the way the movie looks is great. And looks like they actually went to South America to shoot this movie.
Finally, I like that Disney did something new. At the Disney Investor Meeting back in December 2020, the studio announced 50 new projects that are coming out in 2021-2023. And most of them were sequels and reboots of existing Disney franchises. This is an original movie, that is not a sequel or anything like that. And this is a perfect example of what kind of movies I want Disney to make.
The Bad:
The biggest thing here is that it is very predictable. Certain things are set up in the first act of the movie, that when they happened I suspected that it was going to come into play later. And it did, even some of the big twists and turns in the second half of the movie I saw coming. But there was one twist that I didn’t see coming that actually worked for me.
Also, this movie feels way too familiar. Meaning this movie feels like Indiana Jones mixed with aspects of Pirates of the Caribbean and other movies that are set in the jungle. So the plot of the movie is something that you’ve seen before. Even the music for the movie sounds like music from an Indiana Jones movie. And it felt like they easily could have made this the plot for Indiana Jones 5, but wanted to possibly start a new franchise.
And the movie felt a bit too generic, like Disney had a checklist of things that are in modern day blockbusters. Like The Rock, big action, big adventures, and did all of them in the movie. The Rock and Emily Blunt are great but it felt like they could have swapped them out with any other big name movie star and the movie would have been about the same.
Finally, I found Jesse Plemmons and Edgar Rameirz’s characters to be the weakest characters of the movie. The actors did nothing wrong, but they just felt generic and underdeveloped, because they are important characters in the movie but the movie didn’t develop them enough.
Final Thoughts: I know it might seem like I’m being critical of the movie, but I did have a lot of fun with this movie. The cast, the humor, and the sense of adventure made this movie as fun as it is. But the story isn’t original and the movie as a whole felt generic. But still if you like Disney live action movies, if you like movies starring The Rock and Emily Blunt you will have fun with this movie.
The Score: 8.3/10 (B)
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