Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a sequel to the 1995 film Jumanji will be released this  weekend for advance screenings before being fully released on the 20th of December.

The standalone sequel will have a much different feel to the original with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Kevin Hart and Jack Black along with Karen Gillan, who Doctor Who fans may recognise playing the starring roles.

Welcome to the Jungle is a reverse of the original with four high school kids being thrust into the jungle environment of an old video game instead of the old Jumanji board game which brought exotic swarms of animals to a neighbourhood in New Hampshire.

Dwayne Johnson said in an interview that the sequel would not be a remake but a continuation of the original story. It was also made clear that it would act as a tribute to Robin Williams who passed away in 2014.

Alan Parrish, the character Williams played, left clues in the jungle to help the new crew of players as they try to escape the dangerous video game world

The announcement of the remake was met with negativity online, people complaining that it was too soon after Robin Williams’ death and that a remake was unnecessary.

The trailer gives a comedic feel to the film which is no more than one would expect with a cast that features Kevin Hart and Jack Black.

However, it will be interesting to see the online response to the film with blunt comedy at the forefront, which somewhat strays from the titbits of humour brilliantly executed by the late Robin Williams and the mystical nature of the original.

The director of this Jumanji, Jake Kasdan, is the son of Oscar nominated writer and director Lawrence Kasdan who wrote the screenplays for The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Body Heat, Raiders of The Lost Ark and the stand-alone Star Wars film, Han Solo, which has a 2018 release date.

There will be screenings of the film throughout cinemas from Friday 8th to Sunday 10th before the full release on December 20th.

The trailer can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O2G5uOHKn0  

By Shane McGannon