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Andy Meakin (5 KP) rated Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) in Movies

Jul 11, 2018  
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)
2017 | Action, Adventure, Comedy
8
8.0 (306 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Welcome back to Jumanji
How dare they make a sequel/remake/reboot of Jumanji? I mean that film was a classic. Admittedly a very average classic that doesn’t really live up to your childhood memory of it, but still. And, yeah, Zathura was a kind of remake given it was adapted from a book by the same writer and explored the same themes, but nobody watched that, so how dare they do a new Jumanji film? I mean it’s only 22 years since the original came out!

Do you find yourself agreeing with any of that little rant? If you do, then I have a few things to say. First, accept that for thousands of years similar tales have been retold to new generations to keep the spirit of a story alive. Second, why not actually wait to see what the new film has to offer before casting judgement as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actually serves well as a sequel to the first film, whilst doing something new with the idea.

Starting in the mid-90s, and the board game is unearthed on a beach. Given to a teenage kid by his father, the kid isn’t impressed as ‘nobody plays board games these days’, and he gets back to playing on his console. Overnight, reacting to the changes in gaming culture the box works some magic, and the next day the game has morphed to a video game format, to entice a new generation. Jump forward to present day and a group of unlikely teenagers are cast together in detention when they happen upon the abandoned game console. Taking a break from their junk-room sorting, they fire up the game and find themselves pulled into the game -world, each taking on the avatar of the character template they chose on load up. Presented with a quest in true video-game fashion, they set off to find a way to escape, whilst learning something about themselves in the process.

By transitioning to a video-game setting, the story allows for a great deal of fun to be had poking at the contrivances and conventions of the format, especially for games of the era in which the game was inspired. The characters all have strengths and weaknesses, the spawning of lives by dropping from the sky is so reminiscent of many a side-scrolling platform shooter of yesteryear. Even the behaviour of the NPC – I mean support cast – is perfectly drawn upon the mannerisms that game characters act, being there to spout random exposition to move you on your quest. As for the quests – yep, they are pointlessly complicated, filled with traps and red herrings.

But such pokes at video game culture would be wasted if the casting was wrong, but in the four main stars they have cast the perfect personae for each archetype. The heroic, strong and smouldering hero, who is being played by a soft heated geek – The Rock of course. You want a ‘Lara Croft’ style action heroine, albeit played by a socially awkward teen girl – enter Karen Gillan. Weak sidekick who is only there to carry equipment, but being played by a high school jock who thinks he can do anything – Kevin Hart is your man. Round that off with a studious professor type, being played by a female – that kind of comic role works well for Jack Black. Each of the stars cast has a lot of fun playing with there archetypes, and the film does them all justice to allow them to each have their moments to shine. Gillan, in particular, does a great job at looking entirely awkward yet confident at the same time, and her nerdy seduction scene showcases a comic timing ability equal to her action talents showcased in the GotG films.

The action is thrilling, the humour well placed, and the direction solid enough to bring this video game movie to life. In fact, this is one of the best video game movies to date, even though it isn’t even adapted from a real video game. A few nods to the original Jumanji are present, but without awkwardly placed. The end result is a fun family adventure with some great action set pieces and a wry humour, much like the original was. Don’t let nostalgia for the original put you off exploring the world of Jumanji once more.
  
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Stormi (105 KP) rated the Xbox One version of Call of Duty WWII in Video Games

Apr 20, 2018  
Call of Duty WWII
Call of Duty WWII
2017 | Shooter
10
7.3 (11 Ratings)
Video Game Rating Watch
Ok...I'm a girl and I guess it is just amazing when females play video games. I always get friend requests while I'm playing and the guys are like "hey, you are pretty good!"

Duh! I'm a girl and I can play too! LOL!

That being said.....I love this game. I have been a COD junkie for a long long time. I have played all the games and my favorite time of year is NOV. When the new game comes out each year. This game was and is awesome. It had a few glitch issues when it first came out, but I took a break for a while (oops, a few months went by, because well, LIFE) and when I came back the gameplay is so much better. Less glitches, great new weapons, new gear. This game is one of my favorites of the COD games.
  
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David McK (3425 KP) rated Assassin's Creed (2016) in Movies

Jun 9, 2019 (Updated Jan 18, 2020)  
Assassin's Creed (2016)
Assassin's Creed (2016)
2016 | Action
5
5.8 (33 Ratings)
Movie Rating
What. On. Earth.

Another (IMO) failed attempt to bring a video game - in this case, Ubisofts long-running Assassin's Creeds series - to the big screen.

For those not in the know (anyone?), those games sees the player taking the part of a character reliving the memories of one of their ancestors through a device known as the animus, with a whole alt-past mysticism behind it all, and with a centuries-long war between the Templars (the bad guys, in all bit one game) and the Assassin's bubbling along in the background.

And, right there's, is why I think most of these video-game-to-movies adaptations fail: in the game, you're (as the player) are an active participant whereas in the movie theatre you're passive.

It probably also doesn't help that the film seems largely based on one of the more universally-disliked portions of the source material (i.e. the present day parts, which have more or less been completely dropped in the games that came out after this film) rather than the more-interesting past! On the plus side, however, at least they went for a new period of history to visit instead of something already covered by the games.