Jumanji: The Next Level review – lag sets in for this bloated sequel

Back in 2017, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle emerged as one of the year’s more pleasant surprises – for both audiences and its studio. Not only did the film’s blend of Indiana Jones-esque hijinks and video game body-swap comedy prove more entertaining than it had any right to be, it nearly cracked a billion dollars at the box office despite going up against a new Star Wars entry. For this sequel, subtitled The Next Level, the studio’s confidence in their product is obvious: they’ve upped the scale and, once again, released it a week before the next instalment of Star Wars. Yet sadly their confidence has turned to bloat and clunkiness, resulting in a sequel that fails to deliver the consistent fun of its far breezier predecessor.

The plot takes us back into the world of the “Jumanji” video game, though things differ somewhat this time round as the cast all end up in different avatars. Whilst shy nerdy girl Martha (Morgan Turner) returns to the body of Lara Croft-inspired adventurer Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan), the rest of the gang aren’t so lucky. Neurotic Spencer (Alex Wolff), who previously inhabited heroic man-mountain Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), is initially nowhere to be seen, whilst his former avatar is now inhabited by his crotchety grandfather Eddie (Danny DeVito).

“The Rock as Danny DeVito” is clearly the primary selling point of this sequel, and Johnson’s impression is reliably entertaining. Still, it’s Jack Black – previously possessed by popular girl Bethany (Madison Iseman) – who once again emerges as this film’s MVP, capturing the surly frustration of the jock-ish Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) and wringing almost as many laughs as he did in the original. It’s in this silly play-acting that The Next Level is at its affable best, since it otherwise relies on too many old person jokes – Danny Glover takes the Kevin Hart avatar previously occupied by Fridge to double up the old fogey wisecracks – and a paper-thin plot.

It’s not like Welcome to the Jungle had a particularly interesting villain or in-game story, but things feel even flimsier here as the foursome set out to – yet again – steal a powerful jewel from an forgettable villain (played by Rory McCann). Hit-and-miss jokes are intermittently punctuated by weightless CG set-pieces that move the characters from jungle to desert to snowy mountain range without the plot itself ever feeling propulsive. The newfound variety of locations is welcome, but the stakes are too low to hold your interest and some late attempts to force actual emotion are frankly ridiculous, never earning the tonal lapses into sentimentality.

Worst of all, the messiness of the story seeps into the pacing, which is too slow for what should be a silly romp through a bunch of typical adventure movie locations. And whilst there is certainly some fun to be had watching these actors cut loose in an overblown, pantomime-y fashion, spending too much time in the same places only inspires frustration. It isn’t long before The Next Level begins to feel suspiciously like an aggravating video game stage you just want to give up on.