With
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle charging into theaters in less than a month, the first wave of early reactions to the reboot have started to make their rounds on social media. While we'll likely have to wait a bit longer for official reviews, you can check out what some of critics are saying about the film after early screenings.
Surprisingly, it's all mostly positive with many praising Jack Black who plays a teenage girl stuck in, well, Jack Black's overweight, hairy body. Of course, the rest of the cast - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan - also receive their due.
The positivity of these early reactions are pretty surprising (but welcomed) for many, especially given the initial lukewarm reception the trailers received. Some took issue with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle's tone and overall change in direction, which approaches the mythos from a completely different angle than the 1995 original which starred the great Robin Williams.
For instance, rather than a board game that brings its characters into the real world, Jumanji is now a video game that sucks its players into its own wild world based on popular video game tropes. The game may have changed with Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, but it appears it's still a fun little romp.
In the brand new adventure Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the tables are turned as four teenagers in detention are sucked into the world of Jumanji. When they discover an old video game console with a game they’ve never heard of, they are immediately thrust into the game’s jungle setting, into the bodies of their avatars, played by Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan. What they discover is that you don’t just play Jumanji –Jumanji plays you. They’ll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives, or they’ll be stuck in the game forever…
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle hits theaters on December 20, 2017.