Jungle Cruise
Year: 2021
Directed by: Juame Colette-Serra
Starring: Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson & Jack Whitehall
Runtime: 128 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/10/21
Directed by: Juame Colette-Serra
Starring: Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson & Jack Whitehall
Runtime: 128 mins
BBFC: 12
Published: 08/10/21
It’s been a long time since Disney tried to squeeze a film adaptation out of one of their theme park attractions, and seeing as Pirates of the Caribbean has officially gone the way of the Dodo due to the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard legal battle it was time to try and recapture that same magic in a similar way. Enter Jungle Cruise!
In 1916 London, the Houghton siblings Lily (Emily Blunt) and MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) seek funding for their expedition into the Amazon rainforest to locate the Tree of Life whose flower petals are said to have extraordinary medicinal properties. Shunned by the Royal Society, Lily steals an arrowhead from the Society believing it to have connections to the tree at its location. She is not alone with this hypothesis as German royal Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemmons) is also after the arrowhead and will stop at nothing to acquire it.
Once in Brazil, the Houghton’s meet Frank (Dwayne Johnson), a skipper who can sail them down the treacherous path of the Amazon to the location of the tree. But to get there they’ll need to overcome vicious creatures, Joachim, and a band of cursed pirates who have been imprisoned in the Amazon for four hundred years.
In 1916 London, the Houghton siblings Lily (Emily Blunt) and MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) seek funding for their expedition into the Amazon rainforest to locate the Tree of Life whose flower petals are said to have extraordinary medicinal properties. Shunned by the Royal Society, Lily steals an arrowhead from the Society believing it to have connections to the tree at its location. She is not alone with this hypothesis as German royal Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemmons) is also after the arrowhead and will stop at nothing to acquire it.
Once in Brazil, the Houghton’s meet Frank (Dwayne Johnson), a skipper who can sail them down the treacherous path of the Amazon to the location of the tree. But to get there they’ll need to overcome vicious creatures, Joachim, and a band of cursed pirates who have been imprisoned in the Amazon for four hundred years.
If you were to mix Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and 1999’s The Mummy in a blender, but take out all the bits that made those films great then you’ll get Jungle Cruise. This isn’t to say it’s a bad film, in fact for a family adventure film it’s perfectly adequate, but it’s got no originality or spark that makes it truly memorable. It quite literally is a collection of recycled ideas from other more exciting family adventure films.
The story on the whole is almost entirely forgettable, as well as extremely predictable as it is a collection of every cliché and trope in the adventure film genre. You can quite literally doze off at multiple parts in the film (which I did at one point), wake up sometimes later and know exactly what’s happened because it’s so incredibly generic.
But what I did like about Jungle Cruise was the dynamic of our main protagonists, and how the Houghton’s in particular challenge our typical views of adventure heroes. Frank isn’t anything overly special, his is quite literally a discount Jack Sparrow and Rick O’Connell rolled into one. He’s a lovable scoundrel who’s afraid to let anybody in to see his sensitive and caring side, claims he’s only in it for the treasure, but really has personal connections to it and has been waiting for the right adventurers to come along and help him obtain it. Johnson also doesn’t deliver a particularly engaging performance as Frank so despite him having one or two good jokes I kind of didn’t really care much about him because it just reminded me how much I would rather watch Black Pearl or The Mummy.
Lily meanwhile is more along the lines of Evelyn O’Connell from The Mummy Returns. A total badass who’s vastly intellectually superior to everyone else around her. Whilst she may not be a natural adventurer, she’s got the book smarts and bravery to outwit her rivals and not be looked down upon despite her position as a woman putting her at a disadvantage in the time she lives in.
MacGregor is absolutely not an adventurer though and simply acts as Lily’s moral support. Much like his older sister, MacGregor finds himself outcasted by society because he is different to them. As an openly gay man, MacGregor finds that Lily is his only friend, and actually learns to become more at home in the wilderness of the Amazon where his sexual preferences are not villainised.
There are moments where the chemistry between Johnson, Blunt, and Whitehall are superb and really get you sucked into the film, but these moments are fleeting and then you’ll probably find yourself wishing for the chemistry of Jack, Will, and Elizabeth from PotC.
The story on the whole is almost entirely forgettable, as well as extremely predictable as it is a collection of every cliché and trope in the adventure film genre. You can quite literally doze off at multiple parts in the film (which I did at one point), wake up sometimes later and know exactly what’s happened because it’s so incredibly generic.
But what I did like about Jungle Cruise was the dynamic of our main protagonists, and how the Houghton’s in particular challenge our typical views of adventure heroes. Frank isn’t anything overly special, his is quite literally a discount Jack Sparrow and Rick O’Connell rolled into one. He’s a lovable scoundrel who’s afraid to let anybody in to see his sensitive and caring side, claims he’s only in it for the treasure, but really has personal connections to it and has been waiting for the right adventurers to come along and help him obtain it. Johnson also doesn’t deliver a particularly engaging performance as Frank so despite him having one or two good jokes I kind of didn’t really care much about him because it just reminded me how much I would rather watch Black Pearl or The Mummy.
Lily meanwhile is more along the lines of Evelyn O’Connell from The Mummy Returns. A total badass who’s vastly intellectually superior to everyone else around her. Whilst she may not be a natural adventurer, she’s got the book smarts and bravery to outwit her rivals and not be looked down upon despite her position as a woman putting her at a disadvantage in the time she lives in.
MacGregor is absolutely not an adventurer though and simply acts as Lily’s moral support. Much like his older sister, MacGregor finds himself outcasted by society because he is different to them. As an openly gay man, MacGregor finds that Lily is his only friend, and actually learns to become more at home in the wilderness of the Amazon where his sexual preferences are not villainised.
There are moments where the chemistry between Johnson, Blunt, and Whitehall are superb and really get you sucked into the film, but these moments are fleeting and then you’ll probably find yourself wishing for the chemistry of Jack, Will, and Elizabeth from PotC.
The villains are also a bit of a let-down, mostly because they aren’t given much to do. Joachim seems to be the butt of the joke rather than a villain you’re supposed to fear, and I wonder how much of that is the script and how much of that is Plemmons who is an actor I’ve never found to be intimidating, despite his constant villainous roles. Then there’s Don Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez) who sort of reminded me of Bobby Cannavale’s character in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. He’s fine, and I kind of wish he had been the main villain because at least he has a good motive to get to the Tree of Life, but he isn’t given much screen time and what little time he does have is usually focused on his ability to command snakes than on his desire to break the curse that has plagued him for centuries.
The action sequences and CGI are so-so at best. With the CG looking really rubbery at times, particularly in relation to Aguirre and his undead crew; and the only truly memorable action sequence being the escape from the harbour once our protagonists begin their journey down river. The subsequent action sequences aren’t bad as such, but they don’t captivate you in the same way that the other films I have mentioned so far do.
Whilst Jungle Cruise is probably going to be fun for children who are too young to have been exposed to the likes of PotC, Indiana Jones, and The Mummy yet; for adults and teenagers I feel like Jungle Cruise is more akin to a cheap and cheerful independent fairground ride, rather than a film adaptation of one of Disney’s most cherished attractions. If you’re yet to watch it, I’d wait until it’s free on Disney+ before taking the plunge.
The action sequences and CGI are so-so at best. With the CG looking really rubbery at times, particularly in relation to Aguirre and his undead crew; and the only truly memorable action sequence being the escape from the harbour once our protagonists begin their journey down river. The subsequent action sequences aren’t bad as such, but they don’t captivate you in the same way that the other films I have mentioned so far do.
Whilst Jungle Cruise is probably going to be fun for children who are too young to have been exposed to the likes of PotC, Indiana Jones, and The Mummy yet; for adults and teenagers I feel like Jungle Cruise is more akin to a cheap and cheerful independent fairground ride, rather than a film adaptation of one of Disney’s most cherished attractions. If you’re yet to watch it, I’d wait until it’s free on Disney+ before taking the plunge.