Hello, hello everyone. This is your reviewer on the job coming to you.

Today, following my review on “Jumanji (1995)”, I’ll be reviewing its sequel “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle”, to dedicate the late Robin Williams.

In this surprisingly great film, high school teens Spencer Gilpin (played by Alex Wolff), Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), Anthony “Fridge” Johnson (played by Ser’ Darius Blain) and Martha Kaply (played by Morgan Turner), discover an old video game console and are drawn into the game's jungle setting, literally becoming the adult avatars they chose, Spencer becoming Dr. Smolder Bravestone (played by Dwayne Johnson), Bethany becoming Professor Sheldon Oberon (played by Jack Black) “Fridge” becoming Franklin "Mouse" Finbar (played by Kevin Hart), and Martha becoming Ruby Roundhouse (played by Karen Gillan). What they discover is that you don't just play Jumanji - you must survive it. To beat the game and return to the real world, they'll have to go on the most dangerous adventure of their lives or they'll be stuck in the game forever!

This film is definitely without a doubt one of the best to come out in recent years, although it isn’t perfect, that’s for sure.

The acting, casting, characters, and character development of the leads made this movie so much fun!

I absolutely loved the performances of Wolff, Iseman, Blain, and Turner, as well as their casting as the characters’ real world selves. They really rocked the house. The casting and performances of Johnson, Hart, Black, and Gillan were also really fun, of course.

In regards to Black, when I first saw the trailers for this film, I actually felt...kinda weirded out by a girl suddenly becoming a man in the game. However, when I saw the film, I was completely impressed. Black was able to make something really fun out of it all, and he was funny to boot! I don’t think anyone could’ve done better.

Hart was awesome too. He absolutely hit the nail on the head with every line and moment. He’s funny no matter what!

Take this line for instance:

“I got a backpack on! You don’t get in water with a backpack, everyone knows that.”

I literally couldn’t help but laugh when he said that.

Gillan and Johnson were also quite the powerhouses in their roles. I love how they were both able to constantly make something fun out of every small moment, especially when they’re discovering their abilities and when their characters are trying to get used to their avatar selves.

The story, direction, and execution of it all caught me completely by surprise!

I mean, yes, the plot did have the scenario where some people get sucked into something, like a video game. But, the writing that was orchestrated by Chris McKenna, as well as his co-screenwriters, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner, was done in a way that was completely fresh, new, different, and exciting! The direction by Jake Kasdan totally aided the whole thing into bringing that sense of freshness, that’s for sure.

The humor and wit in the film was surprisingly fun as well. Not once could I ever find a gag that wasn’t funny. My favorite gag in particular was where Bravestone has these moments of “smoldering intensity”.

The special effects used on the animals were a definite improvement over its predecessor. Not that I don’t find anything wrong with the effects used in the first film, but, thanks to new technology and advancements, the animals in this second film looked so real.

The best part in the movie, however, is the dedication they made to the late Robin Williams!

At one point in the film, the team meets up with Alex Vreeke (played by Mason Guccione as a teen and Colin Hanks as an adult) who takes on the avatar of Jefferson “Seaplane” McDonough (played by Nick Jonas) and has been stuck in the game since 1996.

He takes the others to a treehouse that he’s been staying in during his time in the game. However, it wasn’t just a treehouse. It was the treehouse built by Williams’ Alan Parrish back when he was stuck in the game! The name of Alan Parrish was even written on a sign.

And incorporating the sign and treehouse...was what I’d like to call the perfect tribute for Williams and his work in the original film.

Before I conclude this review, I would like to, unfortunately, note that this film isn’t without some negatives.

As a PG-13 film, it wasn’t going to be without cussing since people these days commonly do that. However, in my point of view, it had a little too much of that due to some rather excessive use of the A-word. I’ll give you a clue: it’s a synonym of the words “donkey” and “mule”.

The biggest negative that I’d like to note, though, particularly comes from the film’s main antagonist, Russell Van Pelt (played by Bobby Cannavale), who was quite obviously a descendant of Jonathan Hyde’s villain.

Van Pelt was just so annoying! Yes, he was threatening, plenty evil, Cannavale portrayed him well, and I understand he was only part of the game, but still...he annoys me.

The problem with the character was that he lacked depth. He didn’t have any personality or quality to make him distinct, and he was too one-dimensional, not having any development of character whatsoever! I barely found any reason for why he was given any scenes, and he makes me think of him as a lifeless zombie. It even makes me wish that the dark force and evil in this film could’ve been something else entirely and not a man to begin with.

All of this, of course, being especially compared to Pelt’s ancestor in the original film, whom I found to be more than just someone that came out of the board game.

The only other thing that annoyed me were the other non playable characters repeating themselves at certain points, but, I’m letting that slide.

In the end, though, despite these negatives I just mentioned, the film is totally fun and is something completely worth your time.

So, I rate “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, a half star behind the first film because of the cussing. I would’ve given the film four out of five because of this film’s villain, but, since he was only an element of the game, I’m settling for 4 1/2.