Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle: Why does it work?

I've recently re-watched the Jumanji reboot, Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle for the first time since I saw it in theaters. The first viewing of it that I had resulting in my sides splitting from laughing so much. I knew that when it came out on blu-ray that I would have to add it to my collection. Is it worth the money or should it be buried in the style of the original board game where we see it being placed at the end of the first film? I still suffered from sore ribs from laughing so hard but it made me realize that it isn't the story or the Robin Williams tribute that makes the film work. . . it's the main four characters of the game: Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Shelly Oberon (Jack Black), Franklin "Mouse" Finbar (Kevin Hart), and Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillian). The film works because every audience member can see themselves in one of these four characters. Even though these are simply avatars that the four teenagers experiencing detention inhabit, Dr. Bravestone, Oberon, Mouse, and Ruby are the main faces of the journey.

Why is this path for the characters so necessary?

During the first Jumanji, we kept receiving hints about what Alan Parrish went through during his time being trapped in the game. We didn't get any actual glimpses of what happened yet they come out through his knowledge of playing the game. Through the avatars in the new film, we witness the struggles of the four teenagers as they have to face actual perils such as venomous cobras, aggressive hippos, and a threatening bike gang of Van Pelt's minions. Welcome To The Jungle allows its audience to see what perils jumanji offers in its own world and what terrors Alan truly had to go through when he got sucked in the game in the first film.

Smolder Bravestone/ Spencer Gilpin

Dwayne Johnson's performance as nerdy geek Spencer Gilpin who inhabits the avatar that is essentially Indiana Jones mixed with Moana's Maui is one of the stand out performances of the movie. Spencer's character works because he's literally a gamer inside a game. We experience his character at the beginning of the film playing video games before school. Unlike a lot of films in this similar genre, the filmmakers don't rub it in their audiences face that this guy knows everything about games. They don't have him says lines like "this is exactly like a level in [insert game here]" or "I've seen this in [insert another game here] and this is what we need to do." He relies on his other present company and allows for their input.

Shelly Oberon/ Bethany Walker

Everyone has encounter the of person that Bethany Walker is in Jumanji. She is constantly acting like the Earth revolves around her and that everyone should bend to her will simply because she has the internet at her fingers. Once she inhabits the avatar of Shelly (AKA Sheldon) Oberon, she has to learn some kind of humility that brings her closer to being human. Instead of being the leader she thinks she is, she is reduced to a follower who needs to actually contribute instead of expecting everyone to bend to her will. Bethany's character arc is important due to the humbling journey that she goes on through the course of the film.

Franklin "Mouse" Finbar/ Anthony "Fridge" Johnson

Kevin Hart brings his typical humor to his avatar character. The moments where he does speak is almost as if he is performing a mini stand-up show. Almost every single line from him is comedy gold and one of the main reasons that Welcome To The Jungle has a much more humor than the original. Like Bethany and Shelly, Fridge And Mouse are complete opposites. When sucked into the game, Fridge looses "The top two feet of my body" as he screams. He also loses his muscular football physique.  Needless to say, Fridge is the kind of person from high school who would not want to be caught dead playing a video game. He even ditches Spencer at the beginning on their way to school to walk with a cheerleader. When sucked into Jumanji, what he loses in stature and muscle, he gets in knowledge of survival (namely Zoology). Similar to Bethany, Fridge undergoes one of the most substantial character arcs of the film.

Ruby Roundhouse/Martha Kaply

Martha is perhaps one of the most important female characters I've seen in a long time. She isn't the perfect specimen of a teenager and would rather spend her time not doing more athletic things like P.E. class. In a way, she was almost a continuation of Zendaya's Michelle from Spider-Man: Homecoming due to her more tomboyish attitude. Martha's journey is one where she learns that activity is just as important as brains. She also breaks feminine stereotypes in games when transformed into Ruby Roundhouse. She questions the fashion choices and how necessary everything is that females are typically expected of females in video games. Ruby is more along the lines of Lara Croft than Princess Peach. She teaches Martha that having a tiny bit of fun is what makes life special and worth living.

If a film's characters are not remembered,  then the screenwriters messed up in some way. Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle is solely character driven. If the avatars that the four high schoolers inhabit did not work to teach their players a lesson, the film would have failed in many ways. To me, this was done to honor the late comedic actor that led the original Jumanji, Robin Williams.




Photo Credits:
http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/jumanji/270492/jumanji-welcome-to-the-jungle-2-will-have-box-office-rematch-with-star-wars
http://musingsfromus.com/jumanji-5289/
https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/jumanji-welcome-to-the-jungle/Film?oid=34966505
http://www.jmlalonde.com/quotes-leadership-lessons-jumanji-welcome-jungle/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2017/12/27/jumanji-works-because-its-a-video-game-movie-that-actually-wants-to-be-a-video-game-movie/
http://pageone.ph/karen-gillan-from-guardians-of-the-galaxy-to-jumanji/