Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
Starring Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramirez, Jack Whitehall, Jesse Plemons, and Paul Giamatti
Backstory
Ever since Disney had a hit with Pirates of the Caribbean, they’ve been trying to get lighting to strike twice with turning their theme park rides into movies. And it seems like they’ve been trying to get Jungle Cruise off the ground ever since. At one point, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen were attached, in the first live-action teaming of the Toy Story stars. But that fell apart. It finally took the star power of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson to get it off the ground. It was supposed to come out last year, but like a lot of other films, got pushed back because of COVID. It’s finally here…was it worth it?
Plot
It’s the 1910s. World War I is raging. Adventurer Lily Houghton is on the search for the Tears of the Moon…a near-mythical flower whose petals have mystic healing properties. With a magic map in hand, Lily learns it’s somewhere up the Amazon River. With her brother McGregor by her side, they’re off to the Amazon! They charter a boat from gruff and world-weary Skipper Frank Wolff. Frank isn’t so sure about their mission, because it’s a tough river ahead. But it turns out Frank has own motives for taking them on the cruise. It’s a treacherous journey indeed, as they must sail over the rapids, outrun a sadistic German general in a submarine, and are hunted by undead conquistadors. Will they find the Tears of the Moon and survive this jungle cruise?
What I Liked
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt are an adorable duo, just filled with charisma. James Newton Howard delivers an amazing score. There is a pretty good plot twist about halfway through that I thought was pretty great. And the undead conquistadors have some really unique powers. One is essentially a living beehive and commands an army of bees. And it’s cute seeing how they incorporate some aspects of the ride.
What I Didn’t Like
Deciding that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” Disney decided to borrow a lot of what made the first Pirates of the Caribbean so memorable. And once they start throwing in the more supernatural elements, it feels kinda like Pirates of the Jungle.
Final Verdict
Jungle Cruise was fun, yet familiar. You’ll probably have a good time.