By Elise Gremli
Review of Disney’s “Jungle Cruise”
“Jungle Cruise” is an interesting take on this classic ride at Walt Disney World by the same name. The lead actors are big names in the entertainment industry, the details throughout are incredible, and even the minor characters got some screen time.
First, it’s great that they decided to do a movie about a ride that is well known and a favorite at Walt Disney World. I’ve never ridden the ride before, but aspects of the movie resemble the ride. The main boat appears as it does in pictures and videos, and the way it acts like people riding it in the movie is interesting.
Second, the lead actors, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Emily Blunt, capture your attention in the beginning and keep you hooked until the very end. It starts out with Emily being smooth and proper. When we get introduced to Dwayne’s character he’s being goofy, smooth like Emily, and his usual charming self. Throughout the movie, we see incredible chemistry between those two no matter what the situation, even if it was comedic parts or action parts. It would not surprise me if they do more movies together in the future.
Third, the visual effects, action sequences, makeup/costume designs, and sets blew me away. How they made the jungle come to life with either green screen, props, and even in real life objects made it look real. The action sequences will have you on the edge of your seat and sometimes made me jump because they were so intense. Usually, with any movie, the creative team tries to keep the makeup and costume design unique to whatever the storyline is, and in this, they kept the tradition. They had to cover British proper and jungle survival along with mystical makeup for the dark character settings.
Lastly, it wasn’t just Emily and Dwayne that got attention in the movie, it was the other characters that held their own as well. Jack Whitehall, who played Emily Blunt’s brother, stood out with his comedic scenes and somewhat action scenes; he also made me laugh a lot. Jesse Plemons, who played a Russian prince, played his role perfectly because he really annoyed me as any villain would. Edgar Ramirez, who played a major role as an old treasure hunter, was amazing as well. The last a
ctor I want to mention, Paul Giamatti, is well known but didn’t have a major role. He always has characters that annoy me and that means he played it perfectly as Dwayne’s rival.
To conclude, I just want to say this is a great movie that reminds me of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” and will keep you entertained until the end credits. It’s fun for the entire family and I highly recommend it if you like the actors, action and pure enjoyment.
