Starring Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas & Bobby Cannavale

Directed by Jake Kasdan

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, out now on 4K Ultra HD, 3-D Bluray, Bluray and DVD

Four high school detentionees are sucked into a magical jungle video game where their alter-ego avatars are not quite what they expect.

Arriving some 22 years after the 1995 Robin Williams original, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the sequel that no-one expected or wanted, and yet proves to be great fun, due in no small part to the A-List cast acting against type. In many ways this is a throwback to the bodyswap genre (Big, Vice Versa, All of Me) and takes full advantage of the humour in giving nerdy teens the bodies of Dwayne Johnson and Karen Gillan, while dropping a social media-obsessed Instagram queen into the body of Jack Black!

The story is a straight-forward quest, as you’d expect from a video game. It’s Lara Croft and Temple Run, with Indiana Jones peril and in the landscape of Jurassic Park, though with the Raptors replaced by rhinos. It’s fun when the characters realise they are watching a cut-scene, and that the Basil Exposition-style character (a fun Rhys Darby) is a non-participating character in the game. The titular game is upgraded from board game to a 1996 game cartridge, meaning that it’s still retro for most of the audience.

Ant-Man’s Bobby Cannavale is a fairly generic villain, and the resolution of the movie certainly doesn’t register any WTF reactions, but by focusing on the four engaging leads we get to witness some clear character development and have a few chuckles along the way.

The home entertainment release also includes five featurettes, narrated in character by Rhys Darby as well as the standard gag reel and music video. 

Verdict: Funnier than most pure comedies, there’s a lot to recommend this jungle japery. 8/10

Nick Joy