If you were going on a cruise, or more accurately, an expedition through the Amazon, whom would you hire as your guide? Alright, if you couldn’t have Indiana Jones or Lara Croft, because they’re busy doing their own thing? You want someone stalwart, someone firm, someone resilient, someone who could be a rock. Hey, how about The Rock, AKA Dwayne Johnson? His Captain Frank Wolff tells pretty awful jokes, charges too much and is a constant charlatan with an odd choice of pets. But he knows the river better than anyone and is therefore ideal for a couple of explorers seeking to penetrate the interior. Explorers like Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her hapless brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall), who come to the Amazon in search of a mysterious leaf that will cure any disease or injury. This being 1916, there is a demand for such a panacea.
Not that this is a simple trip, as Frank owes money and most of his boat to local magnate Nilo (Paul Giamatti), while Lily and MacGregor are pursued by German aristocrat Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), also fixated on the leaf that will make the Kaiser’s army invincible. Maybe Jungle Cruise wasn’t the best name, as this is more of a Jungle Quest, but that’s established intellectual property (in the form of a theme park ride) for you.
To be fair, the object of the quest isn’t terribly important, as the value of this cruise is the journey rather than the destination. And it is a fun journey. Rapids, waterfalls, wildlife, locals who start out hostile but turn out not be racial stereotypes, deadly German U-boats (seriously), immortal Conquistadors cursed with the properties of the jungle (I’m not making this up – the writers did!), ancient mechanisms and booby traps to thwart the hapless adventurer (slightly more familiar territory here).
Our heroes are a very affable bunch. Johnson and Blunt have wonderful chemistry and are very funny, while Whitehall plays a beautifully realised dandy way out of his depth. MacGregor continues Disney’s willingness to include LGBTQ+ characters, who experience prejudice and abuse for no reason other than the bigotry of others. If we could have an LGBTQ+ lead some time, that would be lovely.
The interplay between the three leads is reminiscent of Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns (although far more fun than that in The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor), and this is only the first of the similarities. Jungle Cruise’s set pieces offer equivalent spectacle with plenty of thrills and spills, and director Jaume Collet-Serra balances the more horrific moments involving sentient mud and vines as well as vicious snakes and bees with wit and pathos. The magical adversaries are often reminiscent of those in that other Disney blockbuster based on a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the central trio also recall Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. It’s like a comedic trio is an established trope or something. Meanwhile, the presence of Johnson as well as the setting echos Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level. So the film is far from original and there’s plenty that you have likely seen elsewhere.
Collet-Serra does handle the familiar material effectively, but it is fair to say that you have likely seen it done better. The environment is more overpowering than the adversaries; there is an excess of vertical levels as our heroes climb, fall, climb and fall again. The linguistic gymnastics are distracting as, unlike The Mummy, Jungle Cruise is largely afraid of subtitles and German and (16th century) Spanish characters mostly speak accented English. The film also suffers from an over-reliance on digital sets and backgrounds, which have the effect of making the perils that our heroes encounter seem weightless and thus lacking in, well, peril. Some latter act plot convolutions feel unnecessary, and the film is at its best when it keeps things simple.
Simplicity is the film’s charm, and it succeeds largely because of its charm. Much of this is due to the winning charisma of the cast, while the quest narrative draws the viewer along for the ride. There is also great humour, such as German sailors taking orders from bees and a hilarious moment where two humans and a jaguar all vomit, two of them due to motion sickness and one because of intoxication. Figure out which one for yourself. Jungle Cruise may be Welcome to the Jungle Mummy of the Caribbean, but it fulfils that modest target with wit, spectacle and thrills to spare.
Not that this is a simple trip, as Frank owes money and most of his boat to local magnate Nilo (Paul Giamatti), while Lily and MacGregor are pursued by German aristocrat Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), also fixated on the leaf that will make the Kaiser’s army invincible. Maybe Jungle Cruise wasn’t the best name, as this is more of a Jungle Quest, but that’s established intellectual property (in the form of a theme park ride) for you.
To be fair, the object of the quest isn’t terribly important, as the value of this cruise is the journey rather than the destination. And it is a fun journey. Rapids, waterfalls, wildlife, locals who start out hostile but turn out not be racial stereotypes, deadly German U-boats (seriously), immortal Conquistadors cursed with the properties of the jungle (I’m not making this up – the writers did!), ancient mechanisms and booby traps to thwart the hapless adventurer (slightly more familiar territory here).
Our heroes are a very affable bunch. Johnson and Blunt have wonderful chemistry and are very funny, while Whitehall plays a beautifully realised dandy way out of his depth. MacGregor continues Disney’s willingness to include LGBTQ+ characters, who experience prejudice and abuse for no reason other than the bigotry of others. If we could have an LGBTQ+ lead some time, that would be lovely.
The interplay between the three leads is reminiscent of Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah in The Mummy and The Mummy Returns (although far more fun than that in The Tomb of the Dragon Emperor), and this is only the first of the similarities. Jungle Cruise’s set pieces offer equivalent spectacle with plenty of thrills and spills, and director Jaume Collet-Serra balances the more horrific moments involving sentient mud and vines as well as vicious snakes and bees with wit and pathos. The magical adversaries are often reminiscent of those in that other Disney blockbuster based on a theme park ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the central trio also recall Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley. It’s like a comedic trio is an established trope or something. Meanwhile, the presence of Johnson as well as the setting echos Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and The Next Level. So the film is far from original and there’s plenty that you have likely seen elsewhere.
Collet-Serra does handle the familiar material effectively, but it is fair to say that you have likely seen it done better. The environment is more overpowering than the adversaries; there is an excess of vertical levels as our heroes climb, fall, climb and fall again. The linguistic gymnastics are distracting as, unlike The Mummy, Jungle Cruise is largely afraid of subtitles and German and (16th century) Spanish characters mostly speak accented English. The film also suffers from an over-reliance on digital sets and backgrounds, which have the effect of making the perils that our heroes encounter seem weightless and thus lacking in, well, peril. Some latter act plot convolutions feel unnecessary, and the film is at its best when it keeps things simple.
Simplicity is the film’s charm, and it succeeds largely because of its charm. Much of this is due to the winning charisma of the cast, while the quest narrative draws the viewer along for the ride. There is also great humour, such as German sailors taking orders from bees and a hilarious moment where two humans and a jaguar all vomit, two of them due to motion sickness and one because of intoxication. Figure out which one for yourself. Jungle Cruise may be Welcome to the Jungle Mummy of the Caribbean, but it fulfils that modest target with wit, spectacle and thrills to spare.