NOTE: this comment is provided by Christopher Dorian and Peter Rhydon.
When young Alan Parish and his friend Sarah Wittle sat in Alan's living room and began playing to that strange game named "Jumanji", neither them, nor the audience, could have expected what was coming after.
Because "Jumanji" is not your parents' "Payday". The game instructions are simple: roll the dice and the player who reaches the end first is the winner. It's just in-between that things go a little bit different...
What was just a little game meeting transforms into a special effects extravaganza, filled with all sorts of creatures and eye-catching action scenes and stunts that seem to be borrowed from the best moments of the Indiana Jones adventures.
The computerized special FX are the main aspects of the movie and they mostly succeed to their task. While they may look archaic today, remember that these visual tricks were created in 1995, and that computer-driven movies were a new sensation. Looking at the lion's faces isn't completely interesting, but it's worth the effort.
Action scenes are well conceived, well acted, and well pictured. Particularly memorable is the crocodile fight in the flooded house, with the characters trying to defend themselves like the Orca crew in "Jaws".
Those two points are tightly linked with one man: director Joe Johnston, who previously made "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and "The Pagemaster". He clearly shows that his former employers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had a huge effect on him and that he gets inspiration from those two phenomenons. And when we see the final result, we could feel that Johnston could become a phenomenon too.
But it isn't the case. And why? Because "Jumanji" relies on a quicksand storyline and poor lines, because characters are occasionally believable and because action scenes are not epic in the Star Wars or Indiana Jones style. The concept is excellent, but the developed elements are not on the same level. Characters are often performing in cliché and predictable scenes, instead of innovative situations.
If we talk about the actors, one should prevail from the others: Robin Williams. Even if his grinning smile looks stuck on his face like The Joker, he is a convincing jungle raider and his performance is fantastic, whatever it is for dramatic, terrifying or comic moments.
What is also good about the film is that it can be enjoyed by people from all ages. Children will be delighted and excited by the animals depicted here and adults will enjoy the magnitude of the special effects employed during the film. The dialog is generally well suited for a general audience and there is no real troubling or disturbing moment.
It's good to see that the '90s still deals with that kind of stuff. Technological developments imply more and more sophisticated video games of all kinds, but it's heart-warming to see that classic board games can provide excitement like this. After seeing that movie, playing "Monopoly" would seem to be like a tea party or some other kind of silly joke.
When young Alan Parish and his friend Sarah Wittle sat in Alan's living room and began playing to that strange game named "Jumanji", neither them, nor the audience, could have expected what was coming after.
Because "Jumanji" is not your parents' "Payday". The game instructions are simple: roll the dice and the player who reaches the end first is the winner. It's just in-between that things go a little bit different...
What was just a little game meeting transforms into a special effects extravaganza, filled with all sorts of creatures and eye-catching action scenes and stunts that seem to be borrowed from the best moments of the Indiana Jones adventures.
The computerized special FX are the main aspects of the movie and they mostly succeed to their task. While they may look archaic today, remember that these visual tricks were created in 1995, and that computer-driven movies were a new sensation. Looking at the lion's faces isn't completely interesting, but it's worth the effort.
Action scenes are well conceived, well acted, and well pictured. Particularly memorable is the crocodile fight in the flooded house, with the characters trying to defend themselves like the Orca crew in "Jaws".
Those two points are tightly linked with one man: director Joe Johnston, who previously made "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" and "The Pagemaster". He clearly shows that his former employers George Lucas and Steven Spielberg had a huge effect on him and that he gets inspiration from those two phenomenons. And when we see the final result, we could feel that Johnston could become a phenomenon too.
But it isn't the case. And why? Because "Jumanji" relies on a quicksand storyline and poor lines, because characters are occasionally believable and because action scenes are not epic in the Star Wars or Indiana Jones style. The concept is excellent, but the developed elements are not on the same level. Characters are often performing in cliché and predictable scenes, instead of innovative situations.
If we talk about the actors, one should prevail from the others: Robin Williams. Even if his grinning smile looks stuck on his face like The Joker, he is a convincing jungle raider and his performance is fantastic, whatever it is for dramatic, terrifying or comic moments.
What is also good about the film is that it can be enjoyed by people from all ages. Children will be delighted and excited by the animals depicted here and adults will enjoy the magnitude of the special effects employed during the film. The dialog is generally well suited for a general audience and there is no real troubling or disturbing moment.
It's good to see that the '90s still deals with that kind of stuff. Technological developments imply more and more sophisticated video games of all kinds, but it's heart-warming to see that classic board games can provide excitement like this. After seeing that movie, playing "Monopoly" would seem to be like a tea party or some other kind of silly joke.