We are at the beginning of the twentieth century close to the First World War. the armed conflict is far away in the Old Continent, while the story of the new Jungle Cruise Movie Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra is entirely set in South America, in the thick Amazon rainforest. The protagonists of the story are Doctor Lily Houghton and her brother McGregor, who arrive on the spot in search of the legendary Tree of Life, which according to Lily's new research should really exist and allow the medicine of the time to evolve with great benefits.
To go into the jungle in search of the artifact, the two ask for the help of what is considered the best ferryman and adventurer on the square, Captain Frank Wolff played by a Dwayne Johnson in Steamboat Willie style, a necessary help. to be able to survive ferocious animals, a torrid and hostile environment, and above all a rival expedition of the German Empire led by the mercenary Aguirre and the aristocratic and perfidious Prince Joachim. The adventure in search of the Tree of Life thus begins.
Jungle Cruise: An eventful jungle cruise
Has Disney finally figured out how to make his live-action appetizing and functional? Maybe it's too early to say it out loud but it would seem so, especially looking at the beautiful Cruella by Craig Gillespie and the latter Jungle Cruise, released a couple of months after the adaptation of the animated classic.
The inspiration is certainly different, based at least conceptually on the attraction of the same name in the Disney theme parks, yet the feeling is that once again, for purpose, form, and intentions, the studio has once again hit the qualitative target it was aiming for.
In this sense, the main merit of the discreet success of the feature film is ascribable to the whole and not to the parts, to a superfine work of miscellany among many narrative topos and cinematographic elements are taken with low hand and knowledge from some of the most loved genre titles. and celebrated in the last twenty years.
Analyzed in its evident simplicity, the structure of Jungle Cruise appears in fact as the union between The Mummy and Pirates of the Caribbean, with a particular wink to the fourth chapter of the franchise, where Jack Sparrow went in search of the Fountain of Eternal Youth - and more or less we are there.
There is fun, there is action and also various fantasy elements, but above all there is a writing that in its refined superficiality still manages not to disfigure more than necessary in front of its predecessors, resulting extremely enjoyable as regards the dialogues, of course, framed within the target of a full-fledged mainstream project, aimed at casual viewers and with no particular ambitions whatsoever except those of cashing in, cashing in, cashing in - having fun.
Excluding a well-packaged visual sector, both from the point of view of special effects and of the "yellow-green" commercial photography of the Spanish Flavio Labiano, Jungle Cruise entertains and intrigues with its intriguing mix of mystery and adventure that also brings to mind Indiana Jones by Steven Spielberg, with whom, however, it does not share the superfine qualitative and authorial dimension, resulting first of all derivative and therefore not original and secondly artificial and thematically false.
This, however, is a problem that the Disney live-action does not always carry with them, in this case, however, yes and it is impossible not to notice it, even if it is not a fundamental problem capable of deeply undermining the success and the pop pleasure of a film created and designed to be nothing more than a toy in motion scripted on the usual - but this time more immediate - formula of generic entertainment. In addition, but it was almost inevitable, Collet-Serra's hand is here most of the time anonymous except in some interesting passage of action, where one actually notes his artistic stance concerning the rest.
But we were talking about the whole, and of course, the interpreters are part of this, first of all, a gigioneggiante and enterprising The Rock, also the producer of the project with his Seven Bucks. The actor is terribly at ease in the role of Wolff and on-screen he has really unexpected acting chemistry with Emily Blunt, who we see here in one of his more "heated" and fun parts, certainly better in these tones than the languor and the semi-composure of Mary Poppins, at least as far as the purely commercial cinema studio is concerned.
Whitehall is also good and nice in the role of Dr. Houghton's brother, also at the center of a long-talked-about coming out, and that we can confirm to you to be a very successful scene. The sinners are above all the villains, and even though the character of Plemons is as usual absurd and over the top, it is a pity that the story does not give him the right space to shine, opening the scenario the run time especially to the trio protagonist.
Ultimately, that of Jungle Cruise is an adventure that we sincerely recommend you to live on the big screen and surrounded by friends or relatives, to fully enjoy a title aware of its nature and destined to thrill the younger audience, that pre-adolescent, as if it were really the new Pirates of the Caribbean. That actually manages to have the same success or emulate the cult path of The Mummy is all to be seen, especially in these pandemic times, but the credentials to become a pleasant summer hit really have them all and within the limits of the due, even if the concessions could still be more.
Jungle Cruise Movie Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra turns out to be another enjoyable and successful live-action by Disney Pictures. a functional mix in its total and desired derivation between Pirates of the Caribbean, The Mummy, and some elements of Indiana Jones - while not sharing with this lastly the obvious authorial and qualitative dimension. We are faced with a mainstream title aware of its commercial nature that knows how to amuse, excite and entertain for its entire duration, losing a bit of verve in the running but always resulting in a pleasant vision that will surely fascinate and capture with its exotic imagery. especially the younger ones. The cast works, the dialogues work and the action works at times, even though the hand of a dynamic director like Serra has here been essentially toned down and made more anonymous than expected. A summer hit to look at with a smile.