Jumanji

How hard did the first movie hit you, and how much of a slog was that fifteen-year wait for a sequel?

Does anyone else get genuinely annoyed—and honestly, I think this was the single worst creative decision they could have made—by the fact that they ditched the actual board game concept? And when I say game, I mean a real tabletop experience, not some mindless video game nonsense like those old Sega or Mega Drive titles... To me, the whole movie lost its soul by pivoting to this cheap PlayStation-style gimmick. Am I just shouting into the void here, or does anyone actually think this was a brilliant move? I’m dying to know what logic someone could use to justify this change. Does anyone else feel like the movie was basically gutted by this shift, and that they should have just stuck to the classic dice-rolling tension?
The entire essence of the story has always been centered on that dice-rolling game that gave the movie its name, Jumanji, rather than having some WWE superstars chasing antelopes through a safari...
One of my absolute favorite movies has been completely ruined... what do you guys think?

I watched the original, and honestly, it’s pretty clear these new versions barely even touch the essence of what made the first one work.

gentlehawk95 said:The whole point of the movie was always that dice-rolling game—that’s what gave Jumanji its identity in the first place! It wasn't supposed to be about some celebrity chasing antelopes through a safari...
One of my absolute favorite movies feels like it's been ruined... what do you guys think?

I feel like the core essence of the film was lost, but maybe only for those generations who grew up playing tabletop games. For the newer crowd, it probably doesn't even register. Honestly, I'd be surprised if someone raised on a PlayStation felt any sense of loss over it. 😒

Besides, the latest sequel has already paid for itself, pulling in a clean $200 million profit.

It’s true, I suppose, that newer generations are growing up with entirely different types of entertainment, so they probably don't even miss the concept of a board game.
I had always personally viewed the movie Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)
as being some sort of unofficial sequel to the original.

For me, there’s only one true, original Jumanji from 1995.

Anything else is just an insult to a timeless classic. Jumanji was my entire childhood. Anyone who grew up in the 90s knows this was the absolute gold standard—right up there with Home Alone or Dumb & Dumber...

But the real power of Jumanji lies in all those unsettling questions left hanging since '95. What actually *is* Jumanji? Where did it come from? How many people played it before? Can you actually die inside the game? Did Kirsten Dunst's character die during the match? If everyone dies, who is left to finish the game? Does that hunter, Van Pelt, realize he's just a part of the game? Why is it that only the kids can hear the game's sound? Can the board itself be destroyed? And so on, and so forth...

Then, of course, there's the legend, Robin Williams. Even the rest of the original cast was perfectly balanced.

hollowsailor19 said:As far as I'm concerned, there is only one true, original Jumanji from back in '95.

Anything else is just a cheap attempt to cash in on a timeless classic, and honestly, it feels like a crime against cinema. For those of us who grew up in the 90s, Jumanji was everything—our absolute go-to movie. It sat right up there with the likes of Home Alone or Dumb & Dumber in our hearts.

But what really sticks with me, the thing that keeps me up at night, is all those unanswered, unsettling questions left hanging since the mid-nineties. Like, what actually *is* Jumanji? Where did it come from in the first place? How many people have played it before? Is death a real possibility inside the game? Did Kirsten Dunst’s character actually die during the chaos? If everyone ends up dead, who's left to finish the board? Does that hunter, Van Pelt, even realize he's just a piece of the game? And why is it that the adults can't hear the jungle sounds while the kids are literally fighting for their lives? Can you even destroy the game once it starts? It goes on forever...

And obviously, you can't talk about it without mentioning the legend, Robin Williams. Plus, the rest of that original cast just had such perfect chemistry.

It seems like we're all pretty much on the same page here—they've gone and ruined the magic for us... but this is a real take right here, man, seriously, you hit the nail on the head. It's all just incredibly sad when you think about it; I don't even have the heart to watch the third one, though unfortunately, I did sit through the second. Let them have their fun, I guess, those spoiled brats.

Frank Richardson said:I watched the original, and honestly, I don't think these newer ones have much to do with what made the first one great.

That’s exactly my point. This recent stuff isn't really Jumanji; they should have just picked a completely different title instead of trying to piggyback on the legacy and essentially diluting the only real Jumanji from '95.

And if you want to talk about sheer stupidity, the way they wrapped up that movie back in '95 was such a blatant setup—a total "to be continued" moment where they basically promised someone would stumble upon the board game again. It was screaming at us that a sequel was coming, and honestly, when you're sitting there in the theater all those years ago, you actually expect them to deliver something substantial, a real continuation of a great story. But instead, after we spent two decades holding our breath and waiting, we get slapped in the face with this absolute garbage they finally put out.