Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is a 2017 American action adventure comedy film directed by Jake Kasdan and written by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner, from a story by McKenna. It is the second installment in the Jumanji franchise, based on the 1981 children's book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg and serves as a stand-alone sequel to Jumanji (1995). The film also makes a tribute to Robin Williams, star of the original film, with a carving of his character's name. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas, and Bobby Cannavale.
Set twenty-one years after the first film, the plot follows four teenagers who are transported into the video game world of Jumanji, playing as the characters they chose and uniting with another player, must overcome the game's magical power in order to win and return home.
Principal photography began in Hawaii in September 2016. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle premiered at the Grand Rex in Paris on December 5, 2017, and was theatrically released in the United States in 3D on December 20, 2017. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who called it a "pleasant surprise" and praised the cast and has grossed $674 million worldwide.
Plot
In 1996, in Brantford, New Hampshire, teenager Alex Vreeke receives the Jumanji board game, found by his father on a beach. When Alex refused it, the game magically transforms into a video game cartridge. When he plays it, he is teleported into the game.
Twenty years later in 2016, four students in Brantford High School are placed in detention together: Spencer Gilpin, who was caught writing essays for his former friend, Anthony "Fridge" Johnson (who is also in detention for the plagiarism), while Bethany Walker and Martha Kaply have both disrespected their respective teachers during class. They were ridiculed for their actions and are assigned by the school's principal to clear out its basement, the four find Jumanji, a multiplayer action-adventure video game. One of the playable characters (video game avatars) is inaccessible. When Spencer hits Start, the four are sucked into the game.
They find themselves in a jungle, each now in the forms of their game avatars. Spencer is a tough, muscular explorer named Dr. Smolder Bravestone, Fridge is a short zoologist named Franklin "Mouse" Finbar (whom he had selected upon misreading the name as "Moose"), Martha is a gorgeous commando and martial art expert named Ruby Roundhouse, and Bethany is an overweight, male cartographer named Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon. They soon realize that they are in a video game, and each has three lives. If they lose all three, they will actually die. Each of their avatars also comes with special skills and weaknesses.
They learn from Nigel, an NPC guide, that the big-game hunter, Russel Van Pelt, wants to obtain a jewel, the "Jaguar's Eye", allowing him to manipulate Jumanji's animals. To escape the game, the players must return it to an enormous jaguar statue and call out "Jumanji". Along the way, the group begins to lose lives through various means when completing game levels. The group start working together to obtain a clue from a snake but are cornered by Van Pelt's men. They are rescued by Alex, the fifth player, whose avatar is a pilot named Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough. Recuperating in a treehouse built by the previous player Alan Parrish (protagonist of Jumanji), Alex learns that he has been in the game for twenty years and the newcomers vow to help him return home. They commandeer a helicopter and fly for the jaguar statue to return the jewel. Upon landing Alex loses his last life after a mosquito bites him, but Bethany performs CPR in time and transfers one of her lives to Alex in the process, saving him from dying.
Arriving at the statue, the players find themselves facing Van Pelt's forces and predatory guards. Using their resources and teamwork, the players distract the villains while Spencer returns the jewel to the statue and calls out the game's name. The game ends, disintegrating Van Pelt into many rats, and the players revert to their former selves and return to the real world, but discover that Alex did not come with them. On their way home, they discover that the Vreeke household – once the neglected home of Alex's father "Old Man" Vreeke – has been restored. An adult Alex appears; he returned to 1996, and history was changed. He is now married and has named his eldest daughter after Bethany out of gratitude for saving his life.
Spencer and Fridge reconcile, Bethany becomes a better person and makes plans to go backpacking for another adventurous encounter, Martha starts dating Spencer, and the teens are now friends after their experiences in the game. The four hear Jumanji's drumbeats, but they take the game behind the school and destroy it with the bowling ball they found in detention to prevent anyone from playing it again.
Directed by Jake Kasdan
Screenplay by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, Jeff Pinkner
Story by Chris McKenna Based on Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonasm, Bobby Cannavale
Music by Henry Jackman
Cinematography Gyula Pados
Edited by Mark Helfrich, Steve Edwards
Release date December 5, 2017 (Grand Rex), December 20, 2017 (United States)
Running time 119 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $90–110 million
Box office $674.6 million
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