Jungle Cruise

I remember writing a review of the Tomb Raider remake a few years ago where I loudly sounded the death knell for the adventure film as a genre.

Ultimatums such as this normally come back to haunt you and so it is as, against all the odds, Disney’s Jungle Cruise has just given a shot in the arm to the family adventure blockbuster.

This looked for all the world like a film to sit with The Legend Of Tarzan in the bargain buckets and it seems, by and large, that the critical consensus has firmly put it there.

I, however, would bung this in with another of His Rock-ness’ recent successes - Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle, as an absolutely top-notch, one-for-all-the-family, Saturday night in.

Sure, there’s not a whole lot of substance to the thing but the critical bashing is genuinely mystifying as this film is a barreling ride every bit befitting the fact that it’s based on a Disneyland attraction. It is exactly what they set it out to be.

Clearly, this is an attempt to give Disney another long-serving franchise like Pirates Of The Caribbean and it’s fair to say I’m not sure this film will give it the legs for that, but that makes its appeal as a standalone feature even greater.

The story’s nice and concise, and although featuring a few silly fantasy elements, is largely MacGuffin-free and, mercifully, isn’t stuffed with too much ‘item collecting’ nonsense. It’s also a small cast: just Dwayne Johnson’s skipper Frank taking Emily Blunt’s scientist Lily and brother McGregor (Jack Whitehall) on a mission to retrieve a flower hidden somewhere in the Amazon with the power to cure any illness. Also seeking said flower is Jesse Plemon’s German submarine captain who wants it to turn the tide of the war (it’s set during WW1) in Germany’s favor.

Along the way we meet some cursed Conquistadors, Amazon tribespeople, friendly big cats, some not so friendly snakes and the usual coterie of adventure film trappings: waterfalls, stone temples, spiders, the works.

It’s just solid: the lack of frills propels the film and the tightness is so refreshing given the abundance of messy plots we’ve seen in blockbuster films recently. Sure, it’s not an award-winner, but the action beats all work well and the twists and reveals are genuinely surprising and fit perfectly with the plot and the humour, mostly coming from the excellent banter between Blunt and Johnson and his many, many, many dad jokes he sprinkles throughout the film.

The cast absolutely carry it, with Plemons chewing scenery and Whitehall getting to supply his usual posh-comedy schtick (although one interesting character reveal isn’t explored which makes it feel like cynical box ticking). The film belongs to its central pair though: The Rock’s usual charisma is fully on show and Blunt is immense; giving it the full Indiana Jones. There’s a little Han and Leia about them and that is high praise indeed.

A genuinely surprising slice of high quality adventure entertainment from Disney. This is exactly what it’s meant to be; a ride turned to film. Bring on Space Mountain: The Movie or whatever comes next.

3 stars ***