Dir: Jake Kasdan

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Dwayne Johnson
Kevin Hart
Karen Gillen
Jack Black
Awkwafina
Danny Glover
Danny DeVito

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The team are back with a few new helpers. Spencer (Alex Wolff) is living in New York struggling with life in the big city, making his way home for Christmas where he makes plans to meet up with his home friends. Allowing his anxiety and self esteem problems to get the better of him Spencer makes the risky choice to go back into Jumanji to avoid his own life. 

His friends are concerned when Spencer doesn’t turn up for breakfast leading them to go to his house to find out where he is. On arrival his friends are greeted by Spencer’s grandfather Arthur (DeVito) and friend Milo (Glover). 

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The group are alerted by the tribal drums of Jumanji and find themselves falling back into the game they had managed to escape only a year before. Only this time, Arthur and Milo have come with them and their friend Bethany seems to have been left behind. 

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Whilst inside the game the group are introduced to new levels and new characters, whilst the original characters have newly developed traits that come in very useful! 

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Full of whit, comedy and thrilling excitement Jumanji: The Next Level is thoroughly enjoyable and plays with the characters so well. Jack Black, yet again, shines with his diverse character acting, as he did in the prequel. As a new addition to the cast Awkwafina absolutely smashed it out of the park when playing Ming, the cat burglar, who becomes Arthur’s character in the latter part of the film. Who’d have thought Awkwafina would play such a convincing Danny DeVito when it’s at home?

Comedic brilliance. 

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The plot was fast paced and intricate enough that it didn’t fall flat, and didn’t feel repetitive to the first instalment. Moments had me even fearing for the fate of the characters. Leaving the audiences on the side of a very cliched cliff as the post credit scene sets us up for an inevitable third instalment. 

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Although the CGI is patchy in places it didn’t effect the enjoyment of the film, I expect this to be a huge hit for fans young and old this festive season. Brilliantly written and a stand out cast.