Review: Jumanji:Welcome to the Jungle - Solid blockbuster fare that works due to it's entertaining cast!

Another week, another blockbuster and yet another reboot! This time it's the mid 90's Robin Williams vehicle that gets a modern day upgrade to appeal to a brand new audience. As much as this seemed to be a film that nobody asked for, thanks to it's charismatic cast and dazzling special effects it almost works!
In Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle four teenagers discover an old video game console and are physically drawn into the game's jungle setting becoming the adult avatars they chose on a rip roaring adventure.
Director Jake Kasdan who has mixed bag of previous features having served up films such as Walk Hard, Bad Teacher and Orange County gets one major element right in this film and that is gathering a charming and likeable cast that enjoy fantastic on screen chemistry and this most definitely papers over a lot of the predictable cracks that can appear in such big budget productions.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kevin Hart and Karen Gillan due superb jobs in their respective roles but it is Jack Black that steals the show, hogging every scene he is in and bringing hilarious comic relief. The only negative on the actors side is the panto villainesque performance by Bobby Carnavale who fails to give any serious gravitas to the main villain Van Pelt.
The CGI is on an another level, with eye popping and jaw dropping effects at every turn and as a spectacle at times it looks terrific.
But it is predictable material filled with gaping plot holes and at times elements that prevent it from soaring above holiday matinee fare.
Overall though, whilst not being the best movie you will see this year, it is far from the worst and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is an entertaining (if not life changing) way to spend ninety minutes plus in the cinema.
✸✸✸