Jungle Cruise
Popcorn Podcast goes on a no spoiler adventure with Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson this week. We review Disney's Jungle Cruise and chat all things character, charisma, production design and CGI. But is the ride worth taking? Plus, Lady Gaga sizzles in House of Gucci, King Richard looks like an ace for Will Smith, Scarlett Johansson sues Disney, and remakes of The Saint and The Haunted Mansion are in the works
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JUNGLE CRUISE MOVIE REVIEW
Leigh: Have you been on the ride at Disneyland?
Tim: I have. I have been on the ride. I've been to Disneyland. Weirdly, though, I don't have many memories of it. This film felt nostalgic and familiar at the same time, but I can't actually close my eyes and imagine myself on the Jungle Cruise. Have you been on it?
Leigh: Yeah, I'm pretty sure I've been on it as well. But do you think that's a metaphor for the movie? It was nice and it was fun, and it was a great experience, but maybe it might be a bit forgettable in time?
Tim: Oh, see. I feel like we're almost on… maybe not opposite sides of the fence here, but I had a really good bloody time watching this movie.
Leigh: Look, it was enjoyable. Don't get me wrong. It was enjoyable. As I said, I wonder if maybe my being underwhelmed was because I had such high expectations. You put together Emily Blunt, Dwayne Johnson, and Disney, and expectations are at an all-time high!
Tim: Definitely. I suppose when it's trying to play in this action-adventure space, there's a lot of baggage or expectations surrounding that. There were things that I compared with Indiana Jones here, one being the music, I think we'll touch on that later, but there were even those visual cues to what a classic 80s adventure film might have. In Indiana Jones, they always had this scene transition where whenever Indy was traveling by plane to his next destination, there’d be that animated plane flying over the map. They threw to that in this where you could see the Amazon animated map and the cruise ship riding along it; I liked those little nods to the genre.
Leigh: That was good. I enjoyed that. When we're talking about the ride though, Jungle Cruise is quite a slow ride, from what I remember…
Tim: Yes.
Leigh: … and things pop out at you along the waterway. The first part of the movie felt very much like that. I found it quite slow to get started and because it took a bit of time to get going, there was no time left to explore the fun story threads.
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