“Jungle Cruise” Movie Review

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Kenia Roman, Student Film Critic

Lately I’ve been watching tons of movies and came across Jungle Cruise. The director behind the movie is Jaume Collet-Serra, the Jungle Cruise is available in Disney+ came out July 30, 2021. It’s an action and adventure movie. I thought the Jungle Cruise was an interesting if predictable movie. This is because the plot was kind of bland although it still kept you really entertained throughout. 

The Jungle Cruise takes place in the along the Amazon River in South America in 1916. The first two characters that are introduced are Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and McGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) in London. Later it takes us to the Amazon River in South America to meet Frank (Dwayne Johnson). Lily and her brother McGregor hire Frank to lead them though the river to search for an ancient tree that holds power to heal and change future medicine. 

One thing I didn’t like about the movie was the plot, which was very predictable. Even though you can say there was action, there wasn’t as much as I thought, which kind of disappointed me. One scene, which shows flashbacks of fighting someone, had very basic boring fights that could have used more excitement. However, the characters and actors who played them were funny and made the movie more interesting . For example, McGregor always had the perfect reactions and was hilarious. When he saw a big leopard his reaction was perfect for the character. One of the characters was a liar from the beginning and some of his lies didn’t add up. At one point in the movie, they said they were poor or, more specifically, poor but could pay people to do things but didn’t have enough to pay other more important people. That’s a detail I didn’t really see a point to. 

Something I really loved was the theme of dedication, which was especially brought to life by the character of Lily. For example even when Frank told her you’ll find nothing she kept going not knowing whether she would find it or not. She felt it was worth it if she could help other people. Frank’s role really added to the theme because he doesn’t believe in her, yet she still keeps going. The tension between these two characters makes the movie more interesting, because it keeps us guessing who will be right. Someone else I really liked in the film was McGregor. Even if he didn’t believe that they would find much, his dedication to support Lily really added to their relationship in the movie. She supported him and he is willing to dedicate himself to being with her. 

I would recommend the Jungle Cruise if you want adventures as well as fantasy and humor movie.