The movie “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is a reboot of the 1996 movie “Jumanji.”  This story introduces four new protagonists. It has Spencer Gilpin (Alex Wolff, “The Naked Brothers Band”), Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (Ser’Darius Blain, “Footloose”), Martha Kaply (Morgan Turner, “Invincible”) and Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman, “Laid in America”). They are four high school students that do not have much in common.

Through many different scenarios, all four of these students find themselves in detention, where their punishment is to clean up the school’s old storage space. While the students are in the middle of their cleaning, Fridge and Spencer discover an old video game console. Spencer convinces everyone to take a break to check out the game. At first, everything seems normal, but after everyone selects their characters, things get a bit out of hand when everyone gets sucked into the console.

Everyone wakes up in a stage jungle to discover they have been transformed into the characters that they selected. Spencer becomes Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, “Ballers”), a heroic and strong archeologist. Fridge becomes Franklin “Moose” Finbar (Kevin Hart, “Ride Along”), a fragile zoologist. Martha becomes Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan, “Guardians of the Galaxy”), a buttkicking “killer of men.” Bethany becomes Dr. Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon (Jack Black, “The Polka King”), a cartographer.

Together, the four of them must find a way out of Jumanji, but the only way to get out of the game is by beating it. To beat the game, the gang must survive their dangerous new world by using their newfound skills, working together and collecting the legendary “Jaguar’s Eye.”

Jumanji is a fun adventure movie that can be enjoyed by the entire family. While the target audience is kids and pre-teens, the movie also features jokes and situations that an older audience can relate to. There are other aspects of the movie that must be complimented, starting with the realistic setting in which the movie takes place and the characters that the viewer follows throughout the story. They are both relatable and likeable, making it easier to follow the story and root for the characters’ success.

While there are many places in which this movie can be praised, there are also many flaws that can be found in this movie. One thing to remember when going to see this movie is that it is still a kid’s movie, meaning that for every one joke that is geared toward adults, there are about five jokes that are meant for kids. The movie can also be criticized for its lack of action in an adventure movie. While there can be pieces of action seen throughout the movie, these scenes are scarce and can make the movie seem slow or boring at times.

Overall, while this movie could be enjoyed by people of all ages, it would be enjoyed mostly by a younger audience. There are many bright sides that bring the movie up, such as the comedic styles of Johnson and Hart (which work excellently together). Unfortunately, writing and overall execution of the movie was the downfall of this ‘90s classic.

Image provided by Sony Pictures Entertainment via YouTube.com