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Welcome to the Jungle
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, Édgar Ramírez, and Paul Giamatti, Jungle Cruise is the latest film based upon a popular Disney theme park attraction.
Taking place in 1916, Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt) and her brother, MacGregor (Whitehall), journey to Brazil to search for the Tree of Life. They enlist skipper Frank Wolff (Johnson) to take them through the jungle on his boat. However, their journey won’t go as planned, not with a German submarine and zombies on their tail.
“Castaways, We Are Castaways”
While the adventure itself is fun and Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson share some amazing chemistry, Jungle Cruise sadly falters. It’s too similar to other films, notably Pirates of the Caribbean and The Mummy (2001).
The monster villains seem ripped right out of Pirates of the Caribbean, and Blunt’s ladder scene near the beginning of the film is almost a direct copy of Rachel Weisz’s library scene in the first Mummy. It’s a film that I felt like I had already seen a dozen times over. Although, it does have its saving graces.
As mentioned, the chemistry between Blunt and Johnson is amazing, and it’s probably the best thing about the film as a whole. It’s clear that the two get along well behind the camera. To add, this off-screen friendship translates perfectly on-screen. While there are comparisons between The Mummy’s Evelyn and Blunt’s Lily, Blunt manages to stray away from those comparisons and creates a character that’s mostly unique. Sadly for her, the screenplay continuously pulls her back into those comparisons.
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Dwayne Johnson gives a great performance. He’s funny, he’s heroic, but he’s turning out the same performance he does in most movies at the end of the day. It’s only when he’s matched with Emily Blunt that he shows some a truly original performance.
Interests That Lie Elsewhere
Joining Blunt and Johnson in Jungle Cruise is Jack Whitehall. He isn’t the worst he’s ever been on screen, but he does give the worst performance in the film. Whitehall is mostly used as comedic relief and is also the most serious and overly cautious character on the adventure. The issue is that he isn’t that good of an actor, and he manages to give a performance that just tells me he is a Tory-version of James Corden.
Whitehall can be proud that he has the pleasure of being Disney’s latest “first gay character” in one of their feature films. I’ve lost count of how many “first gay” characters Disney has had, but there must be at least a minimum of six. But wait – MacGregor isn’t gay, he’s just… elsewhere.
Yes, Disney has substituted the word gay for elsewhere in a scene short enough that affects nothing in the plot and can easily be cut for countries that don’t like LGBTQ+ material. The whole scene is nothing short of insulting, and it has whiffs of J.K Rowling-style representation. This means that it’s representation without actually giving or showing it in the actual material. The scene is so egregious that it should have been left out of the film.
A True 90’s Adventure
Despite its predictability, the adventure we’re taken on is quite a fun ride, and those who are fans of adventure films from the ’90s and early-2000s will get a kick out of it because Jungle Cruise has the style of those eras. The villains are interesting enough to keep your attention, especially Jesse Plemons, who is a great family-friendly bad guy.
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The film is so ’90s/2000s that it even has the CGI to match because it is outright bad! It doesn’t help that Frank’s pet jaguar, Proxima, is a key player in the film and that she looks no more real than an animal in the Uncharted games. Jungle Cruise would have worked wondrously if Disney had decided to utilise puppets instead of CGI.
A Jungle Journey Worth Taking?
Jungle Cruise is worth a watch, and it’s family-friendly enough that I’m sure kids will enjoy watching it. The question is…should you see it in cinemas or on Disney+?
Early access to Jungle Cruise on Disney+ will set you back £19.99/$29.99. Although, you can watch it as many times as you wish, and the price works better if you have to pay for multiple tickets.
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Speaking of Disney+, I do believe that this film should have been a Disney+ Original Movie. Not because I didn’t particularly enjoy it, but out of all of the films they’ve released this year (and are going to release), Jungle Cruise would have been perfect for gaining some attention to the service, and they are long over-due a new original film – only two free (non-documentary) Disney+ Original Movies have been released this year, so it makes you wonder what we’re paying for.
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