We've Got Fun and Games! "Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle"

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Bobby Cannavale, Nick Jonas, Alex Wolff, Ser'Darius Blaine, Madison Iseman, Morgan Turner

Directed by Jake Kasdan

The Story:

Four high schoolers (Wolff, Blaine, Iseman, Turner) are serving detention when they decide to take a break and play a video game on an old system they find in the room they've been assigned to clean up. They fire it up, and the next thing you know, they are sucked into the video game, Jumanji. Now inhabiting their selected avatars, they must work together to beat the game and get back to the real world without losing all of their lives.

Welcome to Jumanji!

If you saw the trailers, odds are good that you thought the movie looked fun.

The movie lived up to the trailer's hype, and when last I checked, this movie was actually still playing in some theaters in America, even though it is now officially released on digital download and blu-ray and DVD.

This is sort of unprecedented in an age when most movies are coming out for download or purchase 4 months after they premiere. To still be playing in over 1,000 theaters and earning $850,000 when the movie premiered before Christmas is a feat unlikely to be matched...

Until Black Panther. :)

Now, back to Jumanji...

I've never seen the original.

Sorry, somehow it fell through the cracks, and I've never bothered to see it over the last 25 years.

If you're like me, don't worry, you're not missing anything. The movie sets up exactly how and why everything that is happening is coming to fruition.

I don't see anything that flies in the face of the original either, so I would assume fans of that one will enjoy revisiting Jumanji.

What starts as a Breakfast Club moment as the four teens that really have not a lot in common with each other prior to detention turns into hilarity as they each find themselves in the bodies of characters from the video game.

Naturally, each character is about as opposite from the kids in the real world as can be.

I won't say much more so as not to spoil any of the fun, but I would like to acknowledge the following:

1) Jack Black steals this movie out from under everyone.
2) The Rock and Kevin Hart can feel free to continue teaming up and making movies forever.
3) Possibly the greatest screen kiss in the history of cinema is included in this film.

So if you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it.

It's one of the few times in movie history you can find it still in theaters or available to watch at home.

That's pretty impressive.

Final Grade: A

Boston Strong... "Patriots Day"

Patriots Day (2016)

Rated R

Starring Mark Wahlberg, John Goodman, Alex Wolff, Themo Melikidze, J.K. Simmons, Kevin Bacon,

Directed by Peter Berg

The Story:

A beautiful morning for the Boston Marathon in 2013 gives way to chaos as the Tsaranaev brothers (Wolff & Melikidze) detonate bombs near the finish line. Sgt. Tommy Saunders (Wahlberg) is pulling security and is near ground zero when the bombs explode. He helps lead the Boston Police Department and the F.B.I. manhunt to capture the suspects before they can strike again, or leave the city to strike elsewhere.

Naturally, this is based on a true story.

The 2nd true story for Mark Wahlberg to save the day is better than Deepwater Horizon.

As I mentioned in that film review, it's hard to accurately gauge the entertainment value on a movie where lives were lost and every day people step up and do heroic things.

The main argument that Patriots Day seemingly endured was the every man police sergeant who was in the right place at the right time at every step of the investigation.

Well, it's called a narrative device people. :)

It allows the story to flow a little better instead of jumping around from points A-F and introducing new characters along the way.

It's not a documentary.

It is engrossing and engaging.

It's also uplifting and poignant.

The drama of the police hunt, the emotional barrage of the victims of the bombing.

Keep a tissue handy, you might need it.

Very well done, but I've also come to expect that from Peter Berg who continues to craft very well made movies throughout his career.

While I rarely go back and watch movies like this again, I could see this as being an exception to that rule.

Final Grade:  B+

Definitely For The Birds... "A Birder's Guide To Everything"

A Birder's Guide To Everything (2013)

Rated PG-13 for language and brief nudity

Starring Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ben Kingsley, Alex Wolff, James Le Gros, Michael Chen, Katie Chang

Directed by Rob Meyer

The Story:

David (McPhee) is a 15 year old member of the high school birding club.  He catches a picture of what may be a Labrador Duck.  The problem with that?  That animal is extinct!  Working with his two best friends and fellow birders (Wolff and Chen) and the audiovisual girl (Chang), the boys are about to go on a road trip to prove the duck is alive!  The real problem: it's the same weekend David's dad (Le Gros) is getting remarried.  Will the duck cost David his relationship with his dad?

I've reviewed movies like this before.

Not bird-watching movies, per se...

But movies that want to tell multiple stories in the course of the running time, and ultimately are unable to get any real momentum into any main story and at the end of the film you simply shrug your shoulders and say...

Meh.

What's on tap here?

A coming of age story.
First romance.
Rebellious teen.
Underdog "sports" team (if you consider birding a sport)

So again, you start swirling these little stories together, and get no real traction with the big story.

Stuff. Simply. Happens.

Add to the chaos, a birding expert (Kingsley) who is basically a throw-away part for the most recognizable name in the movie.

Again, it's okay, but nothing great.

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I'd have to pass on replay value.