Jungle Cruise is based on the Disney theme park ride of the same name. It’s the latest Magic Kingdom ride to translate into the world of cinema after Pirates of the Caribbean and The Haunted Mansion. How Hollywood thinks a theme ride can sustain a two-hour-plus movie is anybody’s guess.
It stars Dwayne Johnson as a riverboat captain in South America in 1916 who reluctantly leads a botanical doctor (Emily Blunt) and her brother (Jack Whitehall) on an expedition to find the fabled Tears of the Moon tree, which can heal anyone of any disease, illness, or curse simply by extracting one of its petals.
Once they set sail, the three face off against a German aristocrat (Jesse Plemons) who wants to possess the tree. If you think you’re sensing some Indiana Jones vibes here, you’re not too far off.
The special effects offer a sense of imagination as when our heroes are told about the myths of three conquistadors who have been cursed and their bodies have been infected by tree roots, snakes, and insects. They are a sight to see and actually add a sense of mystique to this cheesy plot.
Johnson and Blunt have likable chemistry. They often give us a Romancing the Stone sensibility. Johnson uses bad puns for his tourists and has a kind of a fetish, referring to Blunt’s character as “Pants” for being a woman who, well, wears pants. She calls him “Skippy.” (I doubt this will boost sales of the peanut butter.)
Jungle Cruise plays like a cross between Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones and I guess that’s not a bad thing, but I wish the movie was a little less heavy on its runtime of 127 minutes. At the 105 minute mark, I was content with it, but the plot drags on unnecessarily to the point we wish it had wrapped up sooner.
Nevertheless, I’m recommending Jungle Cruise because its energy and imagination are enough to sustain its premise and because Johnson and Blunt have so much fun in the middle of the goofiness.
Grade: B
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of adventure violence.)
