In this new Disney movie base on the theme park attraction of the same name, archaeologist and explorer Lily Houghton (played by Emily Blunt) hires down-on-his-luck boat captain Frank Wolff (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson) to travel down a South American river in search of a legendary petal with miraculous healing capabilities.
This movie recycles stuff. Frank, Lily, and her brother MacGregor (played by Jack Whitehall) are pretty much the Rick, Evelyn, and Jonathan characters from The Mummy. Lily's talented-woman-defying-the-old-timey-patriarchy character is very by-the-numbers. Plus, the supernatural villains in this really are the jungle equivalents of Davey Jones' fish-people crew from the second and third pirates of the Caribbean movies.
That all having been said, this is still a very entertaining and well-made generic action story. I think that Disney tied to course correct from some of their past live action films (the PoC sequels, Tomorrowland, The Lone Ranger, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, and John Carter), which felt too story heavy or taking themselves too seriously. Jungle Cruise adds more humor to the proceedings and really tries to be more of a family adventure. The script does a surprisingly good job of juggling the leads and two sets of villains without making the film feel bloated. The backstory is given a little more thought than expected, especially when it comes to the conquistador storyline.
For fans of the original ride, the movie manages to organically include references. A rather good idea is having Frank be a fan of bad jokes, making him a stand-in for the tour guides from the ride.
This was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, whose filmography has mostly been horror or Liam Neeson action thrillers (seriously, like a lot of Neeson). This is his first attempt at a family film or a mega budget popcorn adventure, and he really pulls it off without a hitch. The editing can be a bit quick, but overall this is a very good-looking movie. Really captures the "classic jungle adventure" feel.
Though playing predictable characters, the two leads deliver fine performances. (Spoiler alert: The Rock is charming.) Jesse Plemmons gives a great performance as the villain Prince Joachim. He plays a character who can both be comedic in his eccentricities but also manages to be a clever and capable foe. Really, acting's good all across the board here.
Highly recommended. The movie might be playing it safe, but it's lots of fun and feels the closest to recapturing the magic of the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.
No comments:
Post a Comment