Jumanji (15 December 1995)
directed by Joe Johnston
starring Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst, Bradley Pierce, Bonnie Hunt, Bebe Neuwirth, David Alan Grier, Patricia Clarkson, Adam Hann-Byrd, Laura Bell Bundy
|
MPAA rating: Studio: Interscope Communications, Teitler Film, Columbia Pictures Script: Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor, Jim Strain Based on the book by: Chris Van Allsburg Music: James Horner Running time: 104 minutes Tags: Action; Adventure; board games; Comedy; elephants; Family Film; monkeys; novel adaptation; poisonous plants Tactical strength: [5/10] |
for menacing fantasy action and some mild language
I find that Jumanji suffers from much of the same problems as Night at the Museum: an interesting comic premise surrounded by a weak frame story, or in this case, two frame stories. The story involves a game, Jumanji, that alters reality based on game play. The players roll the dice, and mystic words appear on the game display. Usually the players don't have to wonder too long about the meaning of the game's message since swarms of bats or fast-growing, man-eating plants appear almost immediately. This premise leads to a lot of comic situations, such as monkeys stealing police cars and stampedes of African animals through city streets. But our real interest lies in the people who play the game and how the game helps or hinders their development.
So we have our first frame story in 1969 about Alan Parrish (Adam Hann-Byrd), a young boy who wants to impress his father (Jonathan Hyde) but seems more like a bookworm and less of the strong, future industrialist required by family tradition. Alan craves attention and approval, but his father responds with plans to send Alan to a private boarding school. One day on the way home from his father's office, Alan hears African drums coming from a construction site. He investigates and finds a buried chest. Alan breaks the lock and finds an old board game name Jumanji, which promises, "An adventure for those who seek to find a way to leave their world behind." Skipping a lot of details, Alan starts to play the game with his girlfriend, Sarah (Laura Bell Bundy) in the living room of the Parrish family mansion. Sarah goes first and nothing seems to happen. On Alan's turn, the game tells him "in the jungle you must wait until the roll of five or eight." Sarah screams as the game sucks Alan into the board and swarm of bats issues forth from the fireplace.
Now we skip to the second frame story set twenty-eight years later. The Parrish mansion stands vacant, and Nora Shepherd (Bebe Neuwirth) buys the property with plans to turn it into a bed-and-breakfast. Nora has just recently taken guardianship of her niece Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and nephew Peter (Bradley Pierce), who recently lost their parents in a car accident. The children display psychological problems related to the loss of their parents: Judy lies about everything and Peter refuses to speak to anyone but Judy. Of course Judy and Peter find Jumanji and start playing. As they play, a swarm of bird-sized mosquitoes attacks them and a swarm of monkeys destroys the kitchen. Peter rolls and eight and a ravenous lion begins chasing the children through the house. An adult Alan Parrish (Robin Williams) saves the children by locking the lion in Nora's bedroom.
Judy finally reads the remainder of the rules printed on the game board that everything returns to normal once one of the players finishes the game and says, "Jumanji." Judy tries to take another turn, but nothing happens. Alan then realizes that both his and Sarah's pieces have remained on the board and that the game considers it Sarah's turn. Luckily, Sarah (Bonnie Hunt) still lives in town, and Alan and the children collect her to continue the game. Now some of the most illogical events happen in the script. The four players obviously want to get the game over with as quickly as possible, but instead of resuming the game at Sarah's house, the four make their way back to the Parrish mansion. They repeat this several times, as if the characters cannot conceive of playing the game in any other setting. Also, if you want a game to end quickly, you pass the dice from one player to another in quick succession. Instead, the players roll the dice and then wait to see what the game will produce next. Ultimately, after destroying most of the Parrish mansion and a department store, one of the players finally finishes the game.
--- S p o i l e r A l e r t ---
As promised, the game returns everything to normal. Since the game began in 1969, everything settles down with young Alan and Sarah hugging next to the game board seemingly unchanged from the experience, except they have retained their memory of the twenty-eight years they spent "playing" the game. Now twenty-eight years surviving in a jungle would certainly toughen up Alan enough to change him into the tough young man his father wants, but it doesn't explain his father's sudden change of heart toward Alan, since Alan's father has no memory of Alan's disappearance. Again we jump twenty-eight years into the future. Alan and Sarah have married, Alan runs his father's shoe company, and they have invited Judy, Peter, and their parents over to a Christmas party. Since Alan knows about the car accident, he makes sure to keep Judy and Peter's parents alive.
So we have a neat and tidy ending. Although Alan probably wouldn't play the game again, it has shaped the outcome of his life in a more positive direction. Alan's father must have seen new strength in Alan, and thus he gives Alan the attention Alan craved. Sarah doesn't live a life as the girl who claimed she saw Alan disappear, and Judy and Peter get to keep their parents and avoid ever having to experience the chaos of Jumanji. Unfortunately, all the character development takes place off screen or gets undone. Alan develops from a boy to a man in the jungles of Jumanji. And we have non-development for Judy and Peter. Since they don't have to deal with the loss of their parents, they don't go through any of the bonding experiences we see in the film, and they don't even know the adventure happened. Sure, the children will probably have much happier lives living with their parents, but will they still have alternate experiences that develop the strengths that they developed because they played Jumanji.
Robin Williams does his usual excellent work as a somewhat manic character. In several scenes I thought his role in Jumanji prepared him for his portrayal in Jack (1996) of a boy with a fully developed adult body. Bonnie Hunt doesn't get much room for a broad character. The script has her screaming in reaction to the events without much room for development of much personality beyond a stereotypical screamer. I thought it very interesting that Kirsten Dunst portrays roughly the same personality here as a thirteen-year-old girl as she does playing Mary Jane in Spider Man. She has the same unshakable character and stubborn determination.
Again a movie with a promising premise, but the frame stories created to present the premise lack adequate character development to make all the special effects worth watching, especially since half the characters have their development revoked at the end of the film.
Related Reviews
Zathura directed by Jon Favreau
Jumanji written by Chris Van Allsburg
Related Items from Amazon.com
  Soundtrack |   Hardcover |   Movie Tie-in |
