DVD review : Jumanji - The Next Level

Watching films as a family has turned into a regular occurrence since we've been on lockdown, so finding a new family-friendly adventure to watch all together is great news. Jumanji : The Next Level, which is released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on April 13th but also (possibly more usefully at the moment !) available on Digital since April 4th, fits the bill perfectly.

You may want to catch up with the past Jumanji films before watching. (It's not as if time is short right now !) The original Jumanji movie, starring Robin Williams, dates back to 1996 and shows two youngsters finding the board game Jumanji in their new house. As they start to play, unleashing wild animals and other scary things, they meet up with Alan Parish (played by Robin Williams), a grown man who has been trapped in the game since he was twelve years old. The updated version in 2017, Jumanji : Welcome to the Jungle, brought a modern twist to the original story, showing four teenagers in a detention centre discovering the old Jumanji game on a video console and being sucked into the jungle as their avatars.

This new movie, Jumanji The Next Level, brings back the popular actors from the last movie - Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan - and adds newcomers Awkwafina, Rory McCann, Danny Glover and Danny DeVito to the cast.

The film picks up with Spencer, Fridge, Martha and Bethany three years after their first adventure in Jumanji’s mystical video game world. When Spencer goes missing inside the game ahead of the group’s planned reunion from college, his friends, along with his grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his grandfather’s friend (Danny Glover), once again inhabit the avatars of Dr. Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), “Mouse” Finbar (Kevin Hart), Professor Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black) and Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) to rescue him. As they return to Jumanji, they discover that nothing is as they expect. With more action and surprises, the players will have to brave parts unknown and unexplored, from the arid deserts to the snowy mountains, in order to escape.

It's a great movie to watch, for both teenagers and adults alike, and it had us chuckling on many occasions. The bonus materials, including a gag reel, several behind-the-scenes featurettes, in-depth scene breakdowns and a brand new jingle, are worth a look too.

The film has a runtime of approximately 123 mins and is rated 12 for adventure action, suggestive content and some language.