Emily Blunt doesn’t self-promote exactly like Johnson (few do), but she has the same shining charisma and effervescent appeal as her muscular co-actor. Despite she’s easily the better dramatic actor of the two, Blunt also has a quick wit and a playful energy that easily matches the famous Johnson. That’s part of what makes “Jungle Cruise” such an enjoyable summer movie. Keith Garlington said in his review, “It features two inherently lovable talents bouncing off each other like an old-school screwball duo. Oh, and it doesn’t hurt to have Disney bankrolling it to the tune of $200 million.”
Garlington continued, “I doubt this will be the only place you read this, but this newest theme park ride inspired movie from the House of Mouse plays very much like “Pirates of the Caribbean” meets “The African Queen”.” If you watch the film, you can even see hints of “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Romancing the Stone,” and “Tomb Raider.” From the beginning it’s evident what “Jungle Cruise” tries to be, and a lot of money has been invested into the large action moments and digital effects. However, what keeps it alive is the hilarious chemistry between the two likable leads.
Blunt plays the adventurous and slightly irrational Dr. Lily Houghton, a botanist and all-around daredevil. Garlington said, “In the film’s frisky opening few minutes we get a good dose of her resourcefulness and resolve as she butts heads with the backwards patriarchy of 1916 England.” Lily believes she has discovered the location of the mystical Tree of Life, a tree that could potentially enhance modern medicine. However, it’s pushed away as nothing more than myth and superstition by the stuck-up all-male science society in London who refuse to back her mission. Undiscouraged, Lilly borrows a certain artifact from the society’s archives and travels to South America with her pessimistic but always loyal brother MacGregor, played by Jack Whitehall.
Lily’s map points to the heart of the Amazon jungle as the location of the Tree of Life. However, there’s one huge problem – she doesn’t have a boat. Johnson comes in playing Frank Wolff, the captain of a rundown riverboat he lovingly calls La Quila. Frank’s job of taking gullible tourists on cheap jungle cruises isn’t enough to pay off his debt to a cranky port manager played by Paul Giamatti. He jumps at the chance to take Lily and MacGregor up the river for a large fee.
You might have guessed that their journey is filled with plenty of danger – wild animals, violent rapids, unwelcoming natives. What you probably don’t know is that the biggest danger they face is a funny deranged German blu-blood in a submarine named Prince Joachim, played by Jesse Lemons. He also believes in the Tree of Life and will do anything to find it before Lily, even if it means resurrecting a group of scary cursed conquistadors led by the always enjoyable but sadly underused Edgar Ramirez.
“Jungle Cruise” is directed by someone who works with Liam Neeson a lot Jaume Collet-Serra who wants to make a fun old-school adventure with an equal amount of swordplay and slapstick. Garlington noted, “The script (from the trio of Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra and John Requa) is silly and light-hearted, reminiscent of the late-1960’s pulp you would find at a Saturday afternoon matinee. You see it most in the film’s first (and best) half, and that throwback vibe kept a smile on my face.” In the second half the story dedicates to telling its mythology which isn’t interesting. There are a few strangely out-of-place scenes that feel like they belong in an completely different movie. However, those things turn out to be small issues because the filmmakers never lose focus on their main strengths – Johnson and Blunt.
Obviously, this is a huge Disney blockbuster meaning that we also get action and visual effects a lot. There is so much CGI. Maybe a little too much in a few scenes. However, much of the film looks amazing, and the jungle settings are both beautiful and threatening. Garlington said, “But regardless of the high-dollar paint and polish, it always comes back to Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt.” Obviously, the score the comedy like you would think (Garlington admitted to laughing a lot). However, the surprise comes in the amount of warmth and sincerity they make between them. They somehow manage to make this energetic over-to-top adventure feel surprisingly comfortable.
Like I mentioned yesterday, I had no idea that this was based on a Disney ride. I cannot recall if I ever went on this when I visited Florida back in 1995, but I might have. However, that was so long ago that I cannot remember everything we did there. Still, regardless of all that, this is a very enjoyable movie. I was surprised, and this is coming from someone who isn’t a fan of The Rock. Check it out if you’d like to because I think you will enjoy it.
Tomorrow I will continue looking at MCU shows in “Disney Month 2022.”
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