Movie Review: ‘Jungle Cruise’

Review by Lauryn Angel

Jungle Cruise is another attempt to convert a popular Disneyland attraction into a live-action adventure for the big screen. Fortunately, it’s better than The Haunted Mansion, but sadly it doesn’t match the spectacle of the first Pirates of the Caribbean film, from which it takes more than a little inspiration.

The movie opens with the story of a conquistador named Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez), who is searching for a mystical tree called the Tears of the Moon, the petals of which can cure any ailment. Things don’t go well for Ramirez and his men, and they end up the subjects of a curse, in the vein of Barbossa and his men in Pirates. Fast forward 400 years and we are introduced to Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt), a botanist seeking funding for an expedition to the Amazon to find the Tears of the Moon. But because it’s 1916 and she is woman, she is forced to hide behind her brother MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) to make her petition. When they are denied, they decide to find their own way, which is how Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) enters the picture. Frank is a down-on-his-luck riverboat captain who makes his living by selling cheaper tickets than the competition (a flamboyant Italian called Nilo, played by Paul Giamatti) and fleecing his passengers at every opportunity.

Frank and Lily’s relationship is reminiscent of Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn in The African Queen or even Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone, while Lily’s relationship with her brother seems almost, but not quite a carbon copy of Rachel Weisz and John Hannah in The Mummy. Add in some undead conquistadors riddled with CGI snakes and insects and an over-the-top German prince (Prince Joachim, played by Jesse Plemmons), and things start to feel very familiar and more than a little derivative.

That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. In fact, it’s entertaining in its predictability and even somewhat comforting. It’s the kind of summer movie that gets you out of the heat for a couple of hours, with great performances, fun visual effects, and even romance. It’s a good-natured two-hour romp that will entertain the family that is not likely to have the longevity of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.