Jungle Cruise

I don’t get it, really. I'm as big as The Rock (give or take 50cm), I'm as rich as The Rock (I regularly return returnable bottles), so why don't women want me? :o) ..... Probably because I don't play in similar interchangeable disposable mass produced movies. So, Disney Mouse, what's next? (12.08.2021)

Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt head into the Amazon jungle in search of a tree that can heal people. And most of the time they're running from something, whether it's Germans, animals or digital villains, and it's kind of fun. Jungle Cruise doesn't attempt any new things and relies on two charismatic stars, lots of visual effects, plenty of action and well-dosed humor. It doesn't excel at anything overall, but the result is a fine adventure film for the whole family. What Disney promised, it delivered. (29.07.2021)

It really wants to be The Mummy crossed with the first Pirates of the Caribbean. But it's a lot closer to The Mummy Returns and the fourth Pirates, episodes of their respective franchises that are so routinely unmemorable for any quality that I had to check if I'd actually seen them. The film is aimed at a slightly younger audience than one would expect for a family adventure film, which the filmmakers try to make up for with references to classics of the genre (from The African Queen to Jumanji to Indiana Jones). It’s a pity that most of them are forced. It's saved by the more than solid pacing, an excellent opening half hour that hints at a better film than what follows, and a cast that is visibly having a good time. My eight-year-old son was delighted, I was not charmed. In other words, your standard, routine Disney corporate CGI fest for the whole family. (30.07.2021)

Jaume Collet-Serra is a talented director, his first film Orphan is great and I liked his collaboration with Liam Neeson (that was back when Liam was still making fine films). Unfortunately, I didn't like this feel-good film. It takes something from Indiana Jones, Jumanji and Pirates of the Caribbean, but it can't come close to any of the them. It lacks its own edge, it lacks epicness or anything downright wow. I like The Rock a lot, but I wasn't entertained at all here; the humor went absolutely me, even Journey 2: The Mysterious Island was more interesting than this whole expedition. Emily Blunt is good, she's nice to look at, but I didn't trust the chemistry between the two protagonists. The jungle sets are quite nice, and even though it's too colourful and digital, the setting is probably the most interesting thing about the film. The villain here is not interesting at all good. The human one was chosen in a completely inappropriate and uninteresting way, and Edgar Ramirez as the "zombie" looked cool, but for my taste he had little room to do anything downright great. The action scenes didn't entertain me, nothing much explodes, there's a lack of physical action, it's more of a jungle chase with the occasional animal. Yes, the kids will be happy, but it's not enough for me and it's about half an hour longer than it should be. In the cinema I hoped it would be finally over and that's never a positive calling card. Two stars seems harsh as I'm obviously not the target audience, but for me it's the weakest cinema visit so far and a mild ordeal. Story 3/5, Action 3/5, Humour 2/5, Violence 0/5, Entertainment 3/5 Music 3/5, Visuals 4/5, Atmosphere 3/5, Suspense 2/5. 5/10. (30.07.2021)

A pretty well-made adventure movie, but the guys at Disney should have made some alterations to the screenplay which is pretty break-neck and because of that I can’t give it a fourth star. The Rock and Blunt have a big job in front of them to save this. Similarly to the Pirates of the Caribbean, this adaptation is a spectacular showcase of special effects generated mainly for profit = job well done. But instead of Verbinski, here Collet-Serra is at the helm, so here they make the killing more entertaining, but the voyage isn’t as smooth. But the twists worked with me and the Mayan city looked fantastic. (30.10.2021)

There probably has not been this much of a pleasant adventure since the third Pirates of the Caribbean. And it is with Pirates of the Caribbean that I think is the fairest to compare Jungle Cruise, because any other resemblance to The Mummy, Indiana Jones, The African Queen, etc., are more of a nod, while the Pirates of the Caribbean films are blood relatives. Those films also arose from an entertainment attraction, but unlike Jungle Cruise didn't resemble it that much, because this cruise is something else entirely. It is really mainly a fun ride on the river from one experience to another, during which there is something to watch and from which you do not expect any great drama. Dwayne Johnson pleased me by not putting much attention on himself, and he works well with Emily Blunt. I think everything is fine with the direction (Collet-Serra is no Verbinski, but no one is) and the script thinks of all age categories and tries not to beat the viewer over the head with jokes, action or surprises (for example, once, in the trailers artfully hidden sub-plot, which is, however, clearly taken from Pirates of the Caribbean). Everything is dosed nicely. James Newton Howard's great music deserves a separate sentence, which is really nice to listen to, and leaving the movie theatre again with a contagious melody playing in my head was a joy. (04.08.2021)

Der Film ist von einer durchdringenden Atmosphäre und Inspiration durch Fluch der Karibik (der Fluch, der Schatz, die Exterieurs) und Die Mumie (eine zielstrebige Wissenschaftlerin in der Hauptrolle) geprägt, aber das ist nicht schlecht, denn Jungle Cruise hat die besseren Aspekte seiner Vorgänger übernommen, will aber gleichzeitig keine bloße Kopie sein, sondern versucht, einen gewissen Mehrwert zu bieten, auch wenn dieser gering sein mag. Das zentrale Duo Blunt-Johnson hatte eine seltsame Chemie, die in den Gegensätzen von Zerbrechlichkeit und Solidität bestand; Jack Whitehall war anfangs etwas nervig, aber letztlich doch recht sympathisch, und Jesse Plemons meisterte die Rolle des Enkels des Kaisers mit Bravour und einer subtilen soziopathischen Ruhe. Das Trio der verfluchten Eroberer war ziemlich Füllwerk und vielleicht zu künstlich, aber auf der anderen Seite habe ich den Charakter der angenehmen "CJI"-Proxima begrüßt. Auch wenn man weiß, wie das Ganze ausgeht, haben die Autoren eine gute Wendung vorbereitet und gleichzeitig einige humorvolle Szenen oder Andeutungen in das Drehbuch eingebaut. Ein flottes, einigermaßen spannendes und akzeptabel humorvolles Abenteuer. P. S. Ein Pluspunkt für die Instrumentalversion von "Nothing Else Matters"! (31.07.2021)

Alles haben wir in verschiedenen Formen und Veränderungen gesehen. Ein ständiges Recycling älterer Abenteuerfilme und daraus ein Cocktail gemischt. Mit anderen Worten, dieser Film brachte nichts Neues, außer vielleicht beliebten Schauspielerinnen und Schauspielern und einer recht anständig gezeigten Gruppe verdammter Eroberer mit Edgar Ramírez an der Spitze. Schwächere drei Sterne. (10.08.2021)

Disney has produced another amazing adventure, and I couldn't keep track of how many different sources the filmmakers drew from (read: stole or ripped off). Those I noticed are The Mummy, Indiana Jones, Tomb Rider (the game), Pirates of the Caribbean, and All the Rivers Run:-) It was all incredibly "original", with an abundance of CGI (in terms of the amount, not quality), and it made the whole thing look like an adventure-fairy tale for the educationally challenged who like the jungle, rivers, boats, submarines, jaguars, musclemen, gays, heroic women, and dumbed-down scripts. I was partly just staring in disbelief, partly bored, and partly comforted by the presence of Emily Blunt. The youngest son of William II? Why? Do the Americans even know who William II was? (06.01.2022)