- Title: Jumanji
- IMDb: link
Adapted from the award-winning book of the same name, 1995’s Jumanji centers around a magical board game where jungle-themed events from inside the game become real forcing the players to finish the game to properly reset the increasing disaster the game creates in the real world.
The players are young Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter Shepherd (Bradley Pierce) whose discovery of the game frees Alan Parrish (Robin Williams), a previous player who was trapped in the game for 26 years. Along with Alan’s childhood friend (Bonnie Hunt), the group will attempt to survive the mayhem and finish the game.
Released in a new 2oth Anniversary Blu-ray, Jumanji holds up pretty well after 20 years, although some of the film’s special effects have aged better than others. Extras include episodes of Jumanji TV series, trailer, special effects commentary, new featurettes, and a digital copy of the movie.
The family-friendly adventure takes a little while to get started with two separate set-up scenes set years earlier to the story’s main timeline, Zathura (a sequel, of sorts) is far better paced. Still, the nature of the story allows for a large amount of chaos and gives Williams the an appropriate reason to play a child trapped in a man’s body. At it’s heart Jumanji is really not much more than disaster porn for children with a nice moral wrapped-up in the middle, but even after two decades it manages to entertain.
[Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, $19.99]
