JUMANJI. Directed by Joe Johnston; written by Jonathan Hensleigh, Greg Taylor & Jim Strain; produced by Scott Kroopf and William Teitler for TriStar. Starring Robin Williams, Bonnie Hunt, Kirsten Dunst and Bradley Pierce. Rated PG.
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Robin Williams has made plenty of movies where he comes on like a herd of wild elephants But this is the first time he's been upstaged by one! Jumanji is a delightful, if occasionally harrowing, fantasy that puts Williams in the unfamiliar position of reacting to outlandish events instead of instigating them.
The title of the movie is also the title of a mysterious board game that takes its players on a not-completely-imaginary jungle adventure. Williams plays Alan, who was trapped in the game as a youngster (his younger self is played by Adam Hann-Byrd, who was Little Man Tate) and is finally freed as an adult when Peter (Pierce) and Judy (Dunst, who also has an impressive resume, including Little Women, Interview with the Vampire and several episodes of ER ) find the game and start to play.
As some parents may know, Jumanji is also a book by the always intriguing children's author Chris Van Allsburg. The movie uses the same basic premise of the book and liberally extends it, keeping the eerie, slightly sinister, but still mischievous tone intact. The computerized special effects that bring the Jumanji game to life are as perfectly done as we're coming to expect these days. Herds of animals, slithering vines, swarms of giant insects, downpours turning stairways into waterfalls—you never know what's coming next, but it's always exciting!
Jumanji manages to keep the characters at center focus, though, at least most of the time. Williams, of course, is always worth watching, and Hunt is funny and sympathetic as Alan's friend Sarah. The children are appealing but not too cute. And the rest of the supporting cast—David Alan Grier, Bebe Neuwirth and Jonathan Hyde in particular—are just as good.
But the main thing that makes Jumanji successful is that all these folks have the right attitudes toward the story. First disbelieving, then despairing, then determined to see it through, they make us believe in the game. too.
January 24, 1996