Jungle Cruise - Film Review

These days, I do my best to avoid Disney's films as I generally think the entire company's film divisions are creatively bankrupt. With that being said, I'm a sucker for pulpy adventures and I was excited at the prospect of an (mostly) original story being told on the big screen. In fact, I was so excited that I'm proud to say that seeing this film was the first movie I'd seen in theaters since before the COVID-19 Pandemic. I'm happy to report that the theater was fairly packed when I saw this and I hope people continue to support their theaters if they are able to.

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Where You Can Find It: I saw this in theaters but it is also available to Disney+ subscribers.

General Information 
Jungle Cruise is an adventure-fantasy film that was released on 30 July 2021. It was directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is based off of the popular theme park ride of the same name at multiple Disney amusement parks in America. Like other Disney films in 2021, it had a dual-release by appearing in theaters as well as on Disney+. As of 2 August 2021, the film has grossed approximately $34 million at the box office with roughly the same mount also being reported via Disney+. Thus far, the returns paint a strange picture as these numbers are not all that good for a typical film's release in theaters (considering its staggering $200 million budget), however the lower numbers actually exceed Disney's expectations thus far as the COVID-19 Pandemic continues to ravage the film industry. Critically, the film is a bit hit-or-miss as it holds a 50 Metascore on Metacritic, and a 63% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Story

After being denied access to valuable research articles because she's a woman, Dr. Lily Houghton (played by Emily Blunt), and her prissy brother, McGregor (Jack Whitehall), get their hands on an ancient arrowhead that hints at the location of a mythical tree in the Amazon rainforest. Lily believes the tree's petals, known as the Tears of the Moon, can cure any illness or injury and hopes to bring samples back to London so they can aid in England's defense in World War One. Unfortunately for Lily and McGregor, the doctor isn't the only one looking for the Tears of the Moon as the dastardly Prussian Prince, Joachim (Jesse Plemons), is in hot pursuit of the duo. The quest quickly goes to South America where Lily hires intrepid steamboat captain, Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson), to act as their guide through the rain forest. The three will have to overcome their own shortcomings, as well as loan sharks, curses, and cannibals to reach the Tears of the Moon before Prince Joachim can.

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No adventure is complete without vine-swinging!

Those that enjoyed Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl or The Mummy (the 1999 version) will immediately notice several aspects of those two films in this one, but that's generally a good thing. Lily is definitely the Evelyne Carnahan to Frank's Rick O'Connell, while McGregor fills in as the comedic sibling just like John Hannah's Jonathan. The involvement of the arrowhead MacGuffin is no different to the gold coins from Pirates of the Caribbean in many regards, and there are countless other elements in this film that call back to the previously mentioned film franchises. With that being said, there are certainly times that I felt that this was Disney not being overly original, however using the same old ideas can be fun if it's executed well.

Like the theme park ride it is based off of, there's plenty of action to be had in this and it's here where the film shines best. Fight scenes and new locales are particularly bombastic and the characters are actively engaged as things progress. Frank is easily the most developed character out of everyone, however we see some snippets of growth in the other two members of the trio as well. The antagonists are where the story is weakest and it almost seems like the filmmakers were aware of this as we don't see them often. For starters, there are far too many villains, and none of them are all that interesting. Joachim is never explored as a character despite appearing the most, while Nilo (Paul Giamatti), the loan shark, is entirely forgotten by the second act. There is a final villain (I'm not naming them for spoiler purposes) that frankly should've taken center-stage, however they never had much to say or do beyond a handful of fight scenes.

Special Effects/Atmosphere

Films like this need a sense of wonder and there's certainly plenty of that to be had here. The riverboat and all of the scenes involving it were awesome to see and the Amazon rainforest is a spectacle to behold as viewers get to see all sorts of flora and fauna. Like the Disney films of long ago, there's plenty of color and it all vividly pops while onscreen. Equally so, the CGI looks fairly good too, although there were times where it felt a tad overused.

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Even the water looks good in this

Atmosphere is unfortunately where this film drops the ball the most as there are numerous occasions in which the boardrooms and corporate veneer of Disney eclipse the heart and soul of this movie. With the exception of costumes, the characters behave in ways significantly out of their own time. Everyone from extras to main protagonists sound and behave like they're from the 21st Century. There's an occasional "look-how-far-we've-come" joke made to point out that it's actually 1916, like how Frank calls Lily "Pants" (because women only wear dresses, duh), but the constant winking breaks some of the immersion. To be fair, The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean are hardly historically accurate on the cultures featured in their respective worlds, however they at least try a bit more than this one does. As it stands, with the exception of costumes and technology, this movie could've taken place in modern day and likely required barely any changes at all.

The Acting

I've always loved Dwayne Johnson, although I've never thought he was a particularly great actor. He makes up for that in this through sheer enthusiasm for his part and I applaud him for it. His action hero persona works perfectly for this film and I generally enjoyed every moment he was in... with the exception of one hilariously awful sequence midway through the film involving his character's backstory. Without giving away too much, Johnson finds himself in a costume that clearly called for a much more serious and grim tone than I think he was prepared to handle. Thankfully, that portion of the film is blissfully short and we never see it again.

The main cast does a fairly decent job across the board, although I'd say the breakout star was easily Jack Whitehall. Whitehall's McGregor is goofy but capable when he needs to be and I loved seeing the actor react to the absurd situations he would find himself in. I've never seen Whitehall in other works, but I definitely plan to keep an eye out for him in the future.

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Jack Whitehall is a treasure in this

Although this is kind of a story element, I think it's important to address the unnecessary romantic sub-plot between Lily and Frank that the plot clearly sets up from the very beginning of the film. I genuinely enjoy Johnson and Blunt as action stars, and I'd argue they had a fair amount of chemistry on-set, however that chemistry did not lean into romance all that well. One could argue that romance wasn't needed at all and I think it would've been just fine to see the two characters be portrayed as good friends as I think that would've been better in both actors' wheelhouses. 

The Best of the Best: The vibrant set-pieces mixed with lush backgrounds.

The Worst of the Worst: The surprise twist involving Frank's backstory was hilariously bad.

Calhooey Score: 6/10 - Above Average

Would I Recommend?

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It just might be worth the trip!

Jungle Cruise is rollicking good adventure film that the entire family can watch although it pales in comparison to its forebears. I would recommend The Mummy as the superior film, however I am aware that it is a bit more adult-oriented. Pirates of the Caribbean (the first two at least) is slightly better as well, however I'm optimistic that there's potential for growth in this new franchise and I would be very interested to see a sequel. Original pulp-adventure stories in cinema are pretty rare these days, so if you're itching for that particular sub-genre, I would recommend checking this out at some point.

Spoiler Comments

• I wanted to see more of Don Aguirre. This was the only villain that had a solid foundation as a character, but he barely got to speak at all. Definitely a situation where there was too much CGI and not enough acting.
• Speaking of CGI, why did the conquistadors get super powers? Was that fully explained? I understand that they were frozen because they couldn't be properly dragged back to the river, however I don't know why that made them have elemental beings.
• If Lily had McGregor do a speech for the Royal Society just so she could sneak into their archives, she failed miserably.
• That cracked me up so much when most of the Royal Society guys just let themselves get killed by Prince Joachim.
• So, did Frank purposefully get himself indebted to a loan shark since he literally built the town and steamboat he pilots?
• I wish I could've seen the scene where Frank just says to himself "I'm bored, I'm going to build an entire city on my own."
• I personally loved all of Frank's bad jokes.
• Seeing McGregor's face get redder and redder throughout the movie was fascinating.
• Seeing Dwayne Johnson pose as a 17th Century Spanish conquistador was hilarious. His wig looked like something from Party City.
• I'm glad Frank could be resurrected so he could then be arrested by London police for bad driving.

References

(1) Jungle Cruise. (2021, July 30). Jungle Cruise film image. Disney. Retrieved from: https://movies.disney.com/jungle-cruise.

(2) Kenigsberg, B. (2021, May 28). Lily and Frank vine-swinging image. New York Times. Retrieved from: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/movies/summer-movies-2021.html.

(3) Hayes, A. (2019, October 11). Backside of water gif. Buzzfeed. Retrieved from: https://www.buzzfeed.com/alliehayes/jungle-cruise-disney-first-trailer.

(4) Tumbral. (2021, July 26). McGregor gif. Retrieved from: https://www.tumbral.com/tag/disneygif*.

(5) Masi, F. (2021, July 27). Dwayne Johnson image. AZCentral. Retrieved from: https://www.azcentral.com/picture-gallery/entertainment/movies/billgoodykoontz/2021/07/27/dwayne-johnson-and-emily-blunt-star-disney-film-jungle-cruise/5386259001/.