That latter bit is good for a few laughs: Hart does a nice job mimicking Glover’s deliberate, laid-back way of speaking. Fridge (Ser’Darius Blain) becomes Jack Black, while two new unwitting additions, Spencer’s bed-ridden grandfather Eddie (played by Danny DeVito) and his old pal Milo (Danny Glover), transform into the Rock and Kevin Hart. Our heroes get sucked back into the deadly magic video game after their pal Spencer (Alex Wolff) goes missing inside it, and this time some of the avatars are switched around. Oh, there are a few mild twists this time around. If the first Jumanji (okay, it wasn’t actually the first Jumanji the real first Jumanji was absolutely dreadful) represented the ideal iteration of that aforementioned delightful concept - the version we hoped we’d get - then its sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, represents the version we might have dreaded, the tired and only modestly funny one that just coasts on its proved, no-longer-novel premise. Those info cards that pop up at regular intervals in the Jumanji films might as well accompany these actors on their other projects as well. They have defined strengths and limitations, and are presented for our entertainment with a series of escalating, albeit predictable challenges. The average movie star is not too different from a video-game avatar, when you think about it. Don’t let anyone tell you that 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was “a surprise hit.” While the scale of its success might have been a little unexpected - apparently it is the highest-grossing domestic release in Sony Pictures history, a fact I find to be hilarious - those of us who watched that trailer before every other movie for months foresaw that the concept was a winning one: Watch a quartet of cliché high schoolers straight out of The Breakfast Club (the Nerd, the Jock, the Outcast, the Debutante) get turned into the Rock, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, and Jack Black! Now watch them battle deadly video-game creatures in a fantasy jungle! It’s a cute idea, conjoined to a group of likable actors with distinct, firmly established personae.
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