Starring Dwayne Johnson, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Kevin Hart

Directed by Jake Kasdan 

Sony, in cinemas December 11

A year has passed since our heroes saved Jumanji by defeating Russell Van Pelt and returning the Jaguar’s Eye to its rightful place. In the meantime, they’ve graduated high school and gone their separate ways while keeping in touch. But a planned reunion goes very wrong when one of the gang decides they need just one more hit, leading to another round of adventure.

2017’s Welcome to the Jungle was a bit of a surprise hit, reinventing the core Jumanji concept for a new generation, and bringing a fresh energy and dynamic which proved a hit with audiences. But can the franchise really land another hit by revisiting that concept and just changing up a few things? Happily yes, although this sequel is way more re-tread than revolution.

The core cast get some fun new challenges, as the film messes about a bit with the core formula by not necessarily having everyone be who they expect to be and by introducing the rogue factor: Spencer’s grandfather and his old friend become two of the player characters, giving the actors a whole new set of challenges. Jack Black, who last time out had the time of his life playing as a vapid teenage girl who slowly discovered hidden depths, this time gets a challenge which could have gone so very badly wrong but manages to stay the right side of tasteful at all times. Dwayne Johnson meanwhile dominates in a performance which will prove to any naysayers that he not only has screen presence and charisma but also acting talent in spades, and Kevin Hart, for all his personal struggles over the last couple of years, turns in an excellent performance which channels an icon of cinema without ever descending into a mere impression.

Like its predecessor, the movie doesn’t hold many surprises in basic structure – knowing that each character has three ‘lives’ within the game means you can be fairly certain that each will lose two of these as proceedings go on, although the movie does at least make a decent fist of keeping you guessing as to in what order and when these losses will occur. Our heroes have each gained some new aspects to their avatars in terms of skills and weaknesses, but there’s still callbacks to classic moments from the first film, including a musical setpiece which will have grins on faces from the first beats of the song.

It also doesn’t have much in the way of a villain, much like the first. Van Pelt was more of a cypher than a character, acting as an end point for the far more interesting journey the protagonists were on. This time around, our villain gets a little more to do onscreen, but still doesn’t really get anything approaching growth or depth. They’re a backdrop to the other stuff, the end boss to be overcome at the appropriate moment. To be fair, this is not a weakness per se – these films aren’t set up to be character studies of their arch bad guys after all – but it bears mentioning that in this, as in so many other aspects, the film has a certain on-rails quality to its plot, moving forwards mostly in ways that won’t surprise, but which are still able to entertain.

And entertainment is never in short supply – it’s a film that packs its laughs in often and well, playing to the various qualities of each character for laughs without ever feeling like it’s being mean. There’s also a surprising amount of emotional heft to the thing as well, even as certain beats are signposted – in some cases – a good half hour before they payoff.

It won’t win awards for originality; it won’t, for the most part, give you any major surprises; and it doesn’t push any envelopes. What it does do is showcase the diverse talents of its cast, provide a hell of a lot of laughs, and shoot by so quickly you’ll barely notice the two-hour runtime passing. In terms of what you want from a big budget studio blockbuster sequel, it’s difficult to imagine anything more being required.

Verdict: Pacey, funny and also emotionally resonant without really ever being surprising or challenging. A great fun night out at the cinema. 8/10

Greg D. Smith