This week’s DVD picks: Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle and Brad’s Status
Also read about the series 800 Words, which is about a newly widowed Aussie journalist who moves his children to New Zealand to learn how to surf
OUR look at the week's latest DVD releases takes in a mopey Ben Stiller in Brad's Status; a dopey Jack Black in Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle; and a struggling-to-copey Erik Thompson in 800 Words.
Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle (12)
Out Apr 30
THE final shot of 1995's original Jumanji showed the infamous jungle boardgame lying on a beach waiting to be discovered by a new generation of players.
Well, it took a while but it's finally been found.
This modern-day Jumanji has magically taken the form of a 90s video game, so when four highschool kids discover a dusty old console, school detention takes an unnexpected turn - think The Breakfast Club meets Jurassic Park.
This is where the real adventure begins as, like our unwitting gamers, we also get sucked into the action.
In its new incarnation, our players take on the identities of their video game characters and it’s this new twist that supplies much of the laughs. Like when an Instagram-obsessed teenage girl suddenly realises she’s a fat middle-aged man (Jack Black). If you think that’s bad, wait until she has to use the bathroom.
To succeed, the quartet have to combine their strengths, but each has only three 'lives’ to finish the game.
In any movie with Dwayne Johnson we’re also treated to plenty of thrilling action. This new Jumanji may lack the charm of the Robin Williams predecessor but it’s an excellent, fun-packed family movie.
Welcome to the Jungle, it’s got fun and games.
★★★★☆
Tony Brannon
Brad's Status (15)
Out Apr 30
IT'S a case of Meet The Midlife Crisis Parent as charity worker Brad (Ben Stiller) picks over the bones of his unglamorous life choices.
He's resentful of his career, his marriage and especially his high-achieving old university friends, even as he takes his teenage son (nicely played by Austin Abrams) on a trip to scout out Harvard.
Brad's internal monologue, which accompanies us for most of the film, is thought-provoking, while the film overall is gently amusing in places and touching throughout.
Michael Sheen, Luke Wilson and Flight Of The Conchords' Jemaine Clement are compelling as Brad's much more successful contempories, while Shazi Raja sparkles with temptation as his son's invigorating young female friend.
It's slow but never dull, and although the lack of a neat ending may frustrate, middle-aged envy has rarely been so engrossing.
★★★★☆
Jayme Bryla
MOST READ IN FILM
800 Words
(Series 1 out now, Series 2 standalone and Series 1 & 2 boxset out May 14)
NEWLY widowed Aussie journalist George Turner (Erik Thompson of Xena: Warrior Princess) displays some astonishingly bad parenting by uprooting his bereaved teenagers and moving to New Zealand.
It’s his dream to return to his childhood holiday home and take up surfing. But the house turns out to be a shack, the locals are unfriendly and a string of disasters ensue.
Despite this, the town’s single women seem to find him irresistible and are soon competing for his attention.
★★★☆☆
Lucy '800 Words? I did it in 80' Shersby
The Parkinsons: A Long Way To Nowhere (18)
Out Apr 30
