Review: Blunt, Johnson’s charisma can’t rescue ‘Jungle Cruise’

Review: Blunt, Johnson’s charisma can’t rescue ‘Jungle Cruise’

The latest fantasy-adventure comedy from Disney, "Jungle Cruise," is based on the well-worn water rollercoaster that was once a highlight of a trip to the company's amusement parks in Orlando and Anaheim, Calif.

The film, starring Emily Blunt and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, has its charms — primarily the two leads' charisma and likability — but the concoction, which is one part "African Queen" and one part "Pirates of the Caribbean" with a jigger of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," never quite mixes into a tasty cocktail.

The movie reminded me of sipping a glass of chocolate milk that hadn't been properly mixed. It was just an inconsistent experience. 

Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, and Jack Whitehall in Jungle Cruise / Walt Disney Pictures

Director Jaume Collet-Serra, who is also directing Johnson's super-villain film "Black Adam" for Warner Bros. next year, provides some hilarious comedy that is skillfully choreographed, but the film bogs down with complicated super-natural aspects that simply do not work and were plain unneeded.

The film attempts to follow in the footsteps of Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones films but fails to make the link. The Indiana Jones films focus on the action-adventure aspect of the potion, with just a dash of the supernatural to give zing.

The hokum in "Jungle Cruise" feels pasted on with lingering echoes from Disney's Pirate flicks. There’s some nice CGI work with a trio of ghoulish villains, but we’ve seen this too many times before for it to be scary, thrilling, or exciting.

What works is Blunt's performance as Dr. Lilly Houghton, a woman who is ahead of her time in this film set during World War I. She is extremely delightful as the quirky explorer who refuses to accept her social standing. She pulls off a lot of hilarious slapstick gags early in the film. Her role is similar to Catherine Hepburn's Rose Sayer in "African Queen," except she is not a missionary. She's on the hunt for the mythical Tree of Life.

While Johnson's acting abilities have considerably improved over the years, he relies mostly on his charisma in this role, delivering an outdated portrayal as Skipper Frank Wolff that is out of sync with Blunt's work, but it isn’t exactly off-putting either

Johnson and Blunt have delightful chemistry together that is arguably the film's best asset, aside from Flavio Labiano's stunning cinematography that harkens back to great adventure films of the past and James Newton Howard's thrilling music.

MacGregor Houghton, Lilly's brother and assistant, who is everything she isn't, is played well by Jack Whitehall. In a lot of instances, he and Johnson complement each other nicely.

Jesse Plemons, on the other hand, does not fare as well as Prince Joachim, a German prince and submarine captain on the hunt for the Tree of Life. Plemons is both frightening and amusing in the character, but it's a wide portrayal that becomes too cartoonish to be entertaining. Likewise, Paul Giamatti chews the scenery as harbormaster Nilo Nemolato, doing his angry-man routine.

In the film, Johnson's character has a pet leopard who is a CGI creature. While the cat is endearing, the CGI work on the animal isn't as convincing as the majority of the other CGI components in the film.

I enjoyed seeing the film because of the performances of Blunt, Whitehall, and Johnson, but it dragged in the middle when the supernatural elements became more prominent. At the climax, there is a revelation about Frank that harms the picture more than it helps.

If you like The Rock or Emily Blunt, the movie could be worth checking out at some time, but I'd wait a few months till Disney Plus removes the $30 extra.