Jumanji: The Next Level is the next installment in the Jumanji franchise. Jake Kasdan directed this film which he co-wrote with Jeff Pinkner and Scott Rosenberg. Dewayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart suit up as the avatars in the game. Now this next bit gets a little tricky to explain if one is unfamiliar with the latest films. Johnson gets to act like Danny DeVito while Kevin Hart assumes the persona of the character played by Danny Glover. A rather welcome addition to the cast is Awkwafina as a new avatar with the amusingly unfortunate name of Ming Fleetfoot.
There is a pretty decent blend of the familiar from the last installment and some new features. Johnson actually pulls off a fairly good impression of DeVito. Awkwafina really does add something a little special to the chemistry among the cast. Black and Hart get to get switch things up themselves since different teenagers from the real world, cinematically speaking of course, are in control of their avatar personas.
It turned out to be a pretty fun movie and stands up well enough when compared to its predecessors. There were plenty of moments that made me laugh as intended. The visual effects were pretty well done for the most part. The fight scenes were over the top, which is fitting for this genre of film. There is not much about this film that I failed to enjoy. It has a few spots throughout where the wisecracks fell a little flat, but I still had a good time watching it when it was all said and done.
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