Jungle Cruise Movie Review: A rollicking adventure and a potential franchise starter

Picture Courtesy: PR

Jungle Cruise
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall
Rating: 3/5

Shades of ‘The Mummy' and ‘Raiders of the lost Ark' series notwithstanding, this latest Disney live action offering based on its popular theme park ride, has the chutzpah and goofy romp to score well with the theatre going audience. Director Jaume Collet-Serra ("The Shallows") helms a fantastical series of set-piece escapades that involve several centuries-old swashbucklers and villains crossing swords and quips with English feminist adventurer Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her snooty, effete, pampered, brother, MacGregor (Jack Whitehall).

Lily is in search of the Tears of the Moon, petals from a fauna that can heal all infirmities… and therefore travels to the Amazon circa 1916, based on directions from maps left behind by her legendary father. Lily enlists the aid of wisecracking captain/adventurer, skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) - of a rather decrepit riverboat, to take her down the Amazon. Wolff regularly takes tourists upriver, makes cheesy jokes and provides for costumed adventure entertainment in his bid to stay afloat in the business. His run-ins with gold-toothed, sunburned, "Italian" harbor master (Paul Giamatti), and Lily's with Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), set the tone for an exciting series of CGI aided effrontery that keeps the narrative speeding up at a pace all-too-inveigling.

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Then there's Edgar Ramirez as creepy, scary, disintegrating, conquistador whose curse from centuries ago has him trapped in the jungle. While Emily Blunt looks delightfully appealing and does her best to turn up the sexual heat, Johnson's amiable, funny vibe neuters it to a large extent. So between them there's more of a friendly playful bond rather than couple worthy chemistry. Collet-Serra evolves a pacey edit with fleeting colourful spectacle-like imagery and brisk shenanigans.

Though the CGI is not exactly perfect (many of the animals look rather rubbery) the rollicking pace doesn't allow for the luxury of dwelling much on that negative aspect. The chases and fights more than compensate for that lacuna. Moreover, the sense of fun is all-pervading, mixing romcom entanglements with action-adventure spiff - thanks to the ebullience of a well-primed cast and engaging tech mechanics.

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