Posted by A wrestler, an actress, and a comedian take a ride on a Disneyland theme park attraction
I don’t have an issue going to the cinema on my own. It’s something I’ve done quite often in my life, and despite some of the reactions I get from people when they hear I watch movies on my own – I’m comfortable with it. If anything, I prefer it – I don’t like being spoken to when I’m watching a movie, and if I wanted to socialise with friends I’d rather go to a pub than sit quietly in a dark theatre. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve dragged Mrs Oddfather to the cinema plenty of times, from midnight showings of Star Wars, to sitting through 3 hours of Avengers when she was pregnant – she loved me for that!
However, for the first time in 2 years I went to the cinema with company – my 10 year old nephew who was up for watching Jungle Cruise.
Jungle Cruise is Disney’s latest cash grab on capitalising on one of their theme park attractions following the Pirate’s of the Caribbean series. This time we see Lily, played by Emily Blunt *swoons*, go on an adventure with her brother MacGregor, played by Jack Whitehall, in search of a tree of life with petals that can cure practically anything. Their journey sees them joined by The Rock’s Frank, a seasoned tour guide, as they’re chased by a group of 400 year old cursed Spanish soldiers and a villainess royal German. I’m going to call The Rock, The Rock by the way – because that’s how I’ve grown up smelling what he’s cooking. That doesn’t sound weird at all, right?
I’m sketchy on some of the plot points in the movie, as there was a little bit of drama in the screening itself. A group of teenage girls were talking and giggling throughout the movie to the point a father of a family not far from me screamed “WILL YOU THREE SHUT UP?”. As I’m reflecting I don’t really know who to side with. The girls were annoying, but then what more can you expect from teenagers. Yet, I feel the response from the dude was a little more aggressive than I would have gone for myself. Did I consider getting involved? I dunno, a younger me was pretty good at escalating situations.
I digress. The movie was fun, it actually felt like a theme park ride. Maybe it was the shoddy cinema seating. But in my opinion, the strongest part was the casting. As ever, The Rock brings an energy so few action heroes bring to the table these days. I love the charisma he has in pretty much any movie he features. Jack Whitehall is his same awkward self which works well here. And Emily Blunt. What can I say – I love the woman. I’ll do my best not to spend the rest of this “review” professing my love for Blunt. Don’t worry, Mrs Oddfather is fully aware of my feelings. But alongside The Rock, Blunt is formidable. Telling you now – that Blunt Rock combo probably added a bias to this movie before I even watched it.
The plot of the movie itself is fun, if somewhat formulaic. There’s obvious callbacks to Indiana Jones – the daddy of adventure movies, maybe the granddaddy now. Jungle Cruise does venture into areas very close to Pirates of the Caribbean with the whole cursed crew thing. Been there, done that. It was a bit odd they tried to make us feel sympathy for the cursed crew during the flashback scenes but then it conflicted with how their story unfolds. By the end I didn’t know if I was supposed to feel sorry for the fate of the cursed or whether it was deserved.
And what happened to the main Spanish dude’s daughter that he was out to save – I’m guessing she just succumbed to her illness? Why didn’t he just explain the situation to the tribal chief that saved him? I’m sure the chief could have given a petal to takeaway as he had just willingly healed the entire travelling Spanish crew? Flash forward to when the movie is set, why did the royal German go against the promise he made to the cursed crew? Wow, that’s a lot of questions.
Ah forget it, just stick Emily Blunt on the screen again and all will be forgotten.
I would have been just as happy to have removed the whole cursed storyline from the movie and just focus on the characters getting from point A to point B with their banter and dad jokes. As with a lot of movies I’ve seen recently, this movie too felt a little on the long side, but I guess they were trying to fit a lot in.
When it comes to MacGregor being gay, I hear there is some backlash in how the word gay isn’t mentioned in the movie. The issue for me is more that this was supposed to be Disney’s first openly gay character (if memory serves me correct), but he’s anything but open. I get that back in the early 1900s, when the movie was set, the response to homosexuality wasn’t as is today and therefore MacGregor doesn’t feel comfortable announcing it so loudly. It’s the fact that I think I remember Disney making a big deal about this being a gay character before the films release. They’d have been better off just not bringing any attention to it whatsoever.
As for my experience watching the movie with my nephew – well, I found it hilarious every time he looked away from the screen when there was a minor kiss between characters. But the best thing? Someone mistook him as being my little brother – which I’m taking as the first compliment I’ve had on looking young since I turned 25.
Verdict
A flawed movie which still proves to be a lot of fun thanks to it’s main core of characters and their chemistry. Now to wait for Alton Towers to make a big budget movie based on their Nemesis ride.
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