Jungle Cruise (2021) Movie Review
Jungle Cruise is the latest effort from Disney to base a movie off of one of its theme park rides. They took the challenge seriously getting two big name actors, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, to lead the movie. The plot is interesting enough and set in the early 1900’s. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) is an adventurer who is shut out of the male dominated explorer group. She goes on a quest without the group’s assistance with only the help of her brother MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) who right away appears to be more of a hindrance than an asset. Lily’s goal is to find Tears of the Moon, a tree whose petals can cure any disease. She desperately longs to find a way to impact the world in a positive manner.
She embarks to South America where she enlists the help of Frank (Dwayne Johnson), a burly river boat captain who takes tourists on trips through the jungle full of corny jokes and fake danger. This mimics the ride at Disneyland heavily and you will revel in the awful jokes if you’ve been on the ride recently. Frank is a slippery fellow and Lily is not sure if she can trust him. He is constantly dodging a financier and using his pet jaguar to trick people. Lily hires Frank to take her down river to look for Tears of the Moon. Of course Lily is not the only one looking for the mythic tree. A man named Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), a German who is hoping to steal the petals for his homeland and win the war, is also looking for the tree with a fleet of armed men to help him.
As if that wasn’t enough, Jungle Cruise ups the ante here by infusing the storyline with a fantastical past. Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century ran afoul of a local tribe while searching for the Tears of the Moon. In return they are cursed to never die and to never leave the site of the river. These nearly dead conquistadors come back to life thanks to Prince Joachim and add another element of danger to Lily’s quest. Will Lily wind up trusting Frank? Will she get to the Tears of the Moon before the conquistadors and Prince Joachim? You’ll need to watch to find out but as with most Disney movies this isn’t a true nail biter. You pretty much know how it will end before it really even begins.
Jungle Cruise has plenty of epic action sequences that should keep you entertained. Dwayne Johnson performs admirably, delivering corny jokes with a rye smile. Emily Blunt is, as usual, fantastic. They have chemistry, but not the kind the movie calls for. There’s little in the way of romantic passion but they have an easy way about them more akin to siblings than anything else. I sometimes question why romance must be forced into storylines when being friends would have the same (if not a better) effect on the movie.
Some of this will look familiar to Disney fans. The conquistadors reminded me of knock offs of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. The CGI looked very similar and I wondered if it was a cost saving measure to use leftovers from the pirates. Although Jungle Cruise is not as good as the original Pirates of the Caribbean movie it’s certainly better than Haunted Mansion. All three are based on rides at Disney theme parks. Having strong actors like Blunt and Johnson take the lead was a smart move and the movie works largely due to Blunt’s witty confidence. Jungle Cruise is not anything special, but it’s certainly not the worst live action Disney film I’ve seen. It’s a fun ride for a few hours but if you miss seeing this, it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
You’ll like this movie if:
1. You like corny dad jokes
2. You like epic action adventures
3. You like family friendly movies
