Unbelievable actually, but while a few years ago everyone probably immediately thought of Robin Williams with a bushy beard when he or she heard “Jumanji”, action megastar Dwayne Johnson has long since hijacked the adventure franchise. Turning the board game of the same name into a video game, director Jake Kasdan (“Bad Teacher”) brought the story to the present with “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” – with huge success. The film was a hit, was one of the most successful theatrical films of 2017 and ultimately gave production studio Sony more than 962.5 million reasons to release another film. And that’s exactly what’s going on today, April 30, 2023 from 8:15 PM on Sat.1: “Jumanji: The Next Level“.
And tuning in isn’t just worth it for Dwayne Johnson fans who can’t get enough of Hollywood’s number one radiant man. Even those who don’t get too much out of the sympathetic muscle mountain are offered two hours of classic adventure cinema with a modern twist – and for us the best film in the series! If you don’t already know, ideally also check out the predecessor, which is currently available as a streaming subscription from both WOW and Netflix.
This is what Jumanji: The Next Level is about
Two years after Bethany (Madison Iseman), Spencer (Alex Wolff), Refrigerator (Ser’Darius Blain) and Martha (Morgan Turner) were sucked into the mysterious video game Jumanji, the lives of the four friends are back on track. They may be done with school now, but even though they all go their separate ways, they still keep in touch regularly. Only Spencer becomes more and more disconnected – until one day he even disappears completely. His three friends know that can only mean one thing: he’s plunged back into the world of Jumanji! But why alone?
Determined to bring their friend back to life, the three decide to follow Spencer. But something goes wrong – and before they know it, they’re back in the video game where everything is suddenly different. Moreover, with the terrible Jürgen (Rory McCann) they not only expect a new villain, but Spencer’s grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito) and his buddy Milo (Danny Glover) were accidentally catapulted into the digital jungle…
Dwayne Johnson, Marvel star Karen Gillan as battle-hardened Ruby Roundhouse, Kevin Hart as pie-sensitive zoologist Moose Finbar and Jack Black as cartographer Shelly Oberon join them as avatars embarking on a new breakneck jungle odyssey. And they are the ones who, together with prominent newcomers (including Awkwafina), once again bring a lot of playfulness. Yes, the star ensemble clearly had a lot of fun during the shoot, which transfers almost seamlessly to the audience.
The sequel is “so entertaining that the already humorous predecessor is even surpassed,” says the official, among others MOVIE STARTS review to “The Next Level”, in which author Björn Becher awards a respectable 3.5 out of 5 possible stars.
Finally, we have a little conundrum for all Dwayne Johnson fans who appreciate his versatility as much as we do: Can you match the three following still images to the three different movies they’re from? A hint: Jumanji: The Next Level is really just one of them (but it might as well be all three).
Denouement: “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” / “Jumanji: The Next Level” / “Rampage – Big Meets Bigger”