“Jungle Cruise” Review
Dwayne Johnson (Left) and Emily Blunt star in “Jungle Cruise” and face certain death on the Amazon River in the name of adventure.
With the summer being a bit of a miss when it comes to blockbusters, nothing was more refreshing after relatively unremarkable studio pictures like “F9” and “Snake Eyes” than “Jungle Cruise.” With enjoyable characters, exciting action and just an overall fun tone, “Jungle Cruise” is the perfect popcorn film of the summer.
The latest in a long trend of Disney turning their theme park rides into feature films, “Jungle Cruise” sees Dr. Lily Houghton, an adventurous botanist, (Emily Blunt) embark on a quest into the Amazon amid the first World War to find a magical tree whose leaves have incredible healing powers. Alongside her sheepish brother (Jack Whitehall), they charter a rinky-dink boat piloted by Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson), a cynical schemer who reluctantly takes them into the face of certain death. As they roll down the river, our heroes find themselves pursued by several forces that want the tree’s power for themselves, resulting in fantastic action spectacle.
What makes the film so enjoyable is the fact that “Jungle Cruise” is serious enough that it feels like a real environment but the film also has a silly nature that results in a lot of fun to be had. In terms of tone, the film resembles old school film serials turned into modern action-adventures like “The Rocketeer,” “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The film’s protagonists are unbelievably charming and play with traditional character arcs while deviating from the more painfully familiar elements of said arcs. For example, our female lead and our male lead don’t get along and constantly bicker over how to go on the journey but, unlike 2000s rom-coms where you know this arguing is a means to an end, here it makes sense because Frank is a cheat and a swindler.
Dr. Houghton also has a lot to learn about the Amazon but, since she’s an adventurous doctor, she feels less like a damsel in distress and more like a real person. Even Houghton’s brother MacGregor, who in most films would be some stick-in-the-mud who has to be saved, actually is a lot of fun and develops from a pampered snob into kind of a badass.
While Dr. Houghton, Frank and MacGregor try to find the tree, they face rapids, piranhas and other elements of nature, they also face several parties who want the tree. This includes a German prince (Jesse Plemons) who wants to use the tree’s powers to help Germany win WWI and an army of cursed conquistadors who seek the tree to lift their curse. Plemons is absolutely hilarious and delivers an over-the-top German accent complete with machine guns and a submarine. As for the conquistadors, they have become consumed by the jungle and have very creative designs with one being made up of snakes, another of bees and one of mud.
The action of “Jungle Cruise” is also a lot of fun with Frank’s ship almost being a character of its own and the hand-to-hand combat being exhilarating. Everything about “Jungle Cruise” is a lot-of-fun with enough time set aside for character development while an action sequence is just around the corner.
Disney making their rides into films is nothing new with the awkwardly charming “Country Bears,” the failure of “The Haunted Mansion” and the successful “Pirates of the Carribean” franchise. In terms of quality, “Jungle Cruise” is slightly less enjoyable than “Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” but still lots of fun. If a solid popcorn film is what you want, “Jungle Cruise” is a boat-load of fun.
