Jungle Cruise (2021)
directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
★★★★☆
Disney’s movies based on theme park attractions have been a hit-or-miss affair. A couple of the Pirates movies were great. The Haunted Mansion and the rest of the Pirates movies were pretty good. Tower of Terror (the first of its kind) was just a mediocre TV movie. The Country Bears may as well have been a TV movie. And as of this review, I have yet to even see Mission to Mars.
So I was a bit apprehensive when Disney announced a Jungle Cruise movie. How can you adapt a ride with no story or characters into a full-length motion picture? Casting The Rock helped. Everything is better with The Rock (yes, I know he’s known as Dwayne Johnson now, but he’s still The Rock to me), but that doesn’t mean everything with The Rock is necessarily good.
Fortunately, despite everything going against it, Jungle Cruise is an enjoyable movie, if a bit derivative. It’s basically The Mummy meets Curse of the Black Pearl with a little bit of Maverick thrown in. I love all of those movies, so if they’re gonna steal, at least they’re stealing from the classics. There are a few surprises along the way, and even if you know what to expect, it’s still a fun journey.
If you’re a fan of the Disney ride, or you’re just in mood for bit of two-hour action-comedy fluff, you’ll probably enjoy Jungle Cruise as much as I did.
