Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the 239th episode of Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr and Dan Murrell. It is narrated by Jon Bailey as Epic Voice Guy. It parodies the 2017 adventure movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the sequel/reboot to Jumanji (1995). It was published on April 3, 2018 to coincide with the film's release on home video and Blu-ray. It is 4 minutes 23 seconds long. It has been viewed over 3.5 million times.
Watch Honest Trailers - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on YouTube.
"Dwayne Johnson spends an entire movie discovering the joys... of being Dwayne Johnson; whether it's his arms, realizing he has no weaknesses, his sex appeal, or the effect he has on large bearded men, you'll totally buy into the hype that's going to make him the second least-qualified president someday." ~ Honest Trailers - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Script[]
From the studio that just... can't... seem... to launch... a franchise (Sony Pictures), comes the reboot no one wanted, that ended up being really... fun? And... something I wouldn't mind seeing more of? Is this... Is this what hope feels like?
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
You love the 1995 original; now, the reboot is tossing out the setting, the premise, the dead kids, the Robin Williams, and pretty much everything except the name.
Bravestone: JUMANJIIIII!!
But since I swore a blood oath to see every movie the Rock makes, here we are.
Meet four teenagers, who are all unique in a Breakfast Club-y kind of way. Watch them learn self-confidence and compassion, just like The Breakfast Club, thanks to an action-packed day in detention, just like that other movie; I believe it was called... "Power Rangers".
Jason Scott (Power Rangers (2017)): (to Colt Wallace) And you must be the bully of detention. (slaps Colt in the face)
Thrill as each teen is Jumanji'd into an avatar that represents their character arc: the nerd who needs courage (Spencer Gilpin/Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone), the jock who needs humility (Anthony "Fridge" Johnson/Franklin "Mouse" Finbar), the weirdo who needs confidence (Martha Kaply/Ruby Roundhouse), and the popular girl who needs to learn... how a penis works. (Bethany Walker/Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon)
Oberon: So, how do we do this? / Oh, my God, these things are crazy!
It may be on the nose, but you'll laugh as all the actors get to play against their usual type...
Bravestone: Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.
Roundhouse: (laughs)
Oberon: I, like, can't even with this place.
...except for Kevin Hart.
Finbar: I don't have the top two feet of my body!
Kevin Hart always Kevin Harts.
Finbar: (while running away from a rhino stampede) Heel! (screams) / Oh, my God! (gets trampled)
Enter Jumanji, the board game that literally rebooted itself for a new generation, that's sort of a riff on the tropes of video games...
Bravestone: I think he's an NPC.
...except when it drops the pretense to be a normal adventure movie again.
Van Pelt: They got away?
Billingsley: We lost them in the jungle.
Wait, why are the NPCs talking to each--? Uh, yeah, you know what? Never mind. But, it still does a good job poking fun at female heroes designed by dudes...
Roundhouse: Why am I wearing this outfit in a jungle?
...scripted events...
Marketplace Boy: Dr. Bravestone. [...] Jumanji needs you. / Jumanji needs you.
Marketplace Boy: Jumanji needs you.
Finbar: Jumanji needs him. We know.
...and multiple violent deaths that never seem to faze the characters.
Roundhouse: (as Bravestone falls to his apparent death) Oh, my God!
Finbar: Chill out. He'll be back. (shows Bravestone falling from the sky as he respawns)
You know, if Mario was real, he'd never stop screaming. (plays audio of Mario screaming as he loses a life in Super Mario Bros.)
After 35 years, Jack Black finally returns to the jungle...
Young Jack Black (Pitfall! Commercial): Just last night, I was lost in the jungle with Pitfall Harry, surrounded by man-eating crocodiles!
...while the Rock just can't get enough, in the third chapter of his secret jungle quadrilogy (shows the posters for The Rundown, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, and this film, along with a picture of him at Disney's Jungle Cruise ride), that's a pure celebration of his Rock appeal, as Dwayne Johnson spends an entire movie discovering the joys... of being Dwayne Johnson; whether it's his arms...
Bravestone: (looking at his biceps) Jesus, would you look at the size of that thing?
...realizing he has no weaknesses...
Bravestone: (looking at his stat screen, with his weaknesses listed as "None") "None"?
...his sex appeal (shows Bravestone looking confidently in the distance, causing Finbar to be taken aback), or the effect he has on large bearded men...
Oberon: Damn, that is a man right there.
...you'll totally buy into the hype that's going to make him the second least-qualified president someday.
So gear up for a flick that surprised everyone at the box office, paid proper respect to the original...
McDonough: This is Alan Parrish's house. I'm just living in it.
...and reminded every studio that when most of your reboots, feature-length comedies, and video game movies are terrible, we'll slob all over you just for showing basic competence. (shows Bravestone and Roundhouse awkwardly struggling to kiss each other on the lips) Eugh! Ugh!
Starring: Rocky Player One (Dwayne Johnson as Dr. Xander "Smolder" Bravestone); The Cake is a Lie (Kevin Hart as Franklin "Mouse" Finbar)...
Roundhouse: Cake?
(shows Finbar exploding)
...Tenacious OMG (Jack Black as Professor Sheldon "Shelly" Oberon); Amy Respawned (Karen Gillan as Ruby Roundhouse); American Harry Styles (Nick Jonas as Jefferson "Seaplane" McDonough); Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks as Adult Alex Vreeke); Too Many Cooks! (William Tokarsky as Food Vendor); and The Heart of Te Fiti (the Jaguar's Eye).
The Jungle Book: The Game, The Movie, The Reboot, The Video Game
Honest title for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - The Jungle Book: The Game, The Movie, The Reboot, The Video Game. Titles designed by Robert Holtby.
Finbar: Albino rhinos! They're huge, white, scary, and stupid, and they eat people.
Good news, Kev! We've got them on the ropes! (a The Nerve article with the title "Extinction Looms as Last White Male Northern Rhino Aged 45, Passes Away in Kenya") (glumly) Yay... Go us...
Finbar: Oh, no.
Trivia[]
Honest Trailers Commentary - Jumanji- Welcome To The Jungle
- The writers thought Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was a "fun romp." The writers always find it challenging to make Honest Trailers about comedies because it's so hard to make jokes about jokes.
- Head writer Spencer Gilbert didn't get the "Amy Respawned" joke about Karen Gillan. Joe Starr had to explain it was a reference to her Doctor Who character Amy Pond. Literally 1 week later, the entire Honest Trailers team got roped into watching the entire 55 year run of Doctor Who to reward a fan who donated $10,000 to the Screen Junkies Women In Film charity fundraising event. Coincidence? Cause and effect? Poetic Justice? You decide! Then check out the Honest Trailers for the classic era of Doctor Who and the modern era of Doctor Who.
- The "we've got them on the ropes" line is a reference of the death of the world's last male northern white rhinoceros, who passed away on March 19, 2018, at the age of 45 in Kenya due to illness.
- Screen Junkies also produced an Honest Trailer for the original Jumanji movie.
- Screen Junkies have produced several other Honest Trailers for films featuring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson including Rampage, Moana, Furious 7 and Fate of the Furious. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
Watch the full Honest Trailer Commentary on YouTube
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle has a 97.9% approval rating from YouTube viewers. CinemaBlend said "the studio digs at the beginning of these are easily one of the best parts of most Honest Trailers." CinemaBlend also said the Honest Trailer was successful in pointing out "how strange it is that this reboot is essentially Jumanji in name only and succeeds in spite of that." ScreenRant praised the trailer for humorously highlighting Dwayne Johnson's charisma. MovieWeb noted the Honest Trailer underscored how surprising the success of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle actually was.
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Voiceover Narration by Jon Bailey
Title design by Robert Holtby
Producers - Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Max Dionne
Written by Spencer Gilbert, Joe Starr, Dan Murrell
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
Supervising Producer: Warren Tessler
Production Coordinator: Tina Choi
Edited by Kevin Williamsen and TJ Nordaker
Post-Production Supervisor: Gracie Hartmann
Post-Production Coordinator: Carolyn Croce
Assistant Editor: Emin Bassavand
External links[]
- Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle's Honest Trailer Is Shocked By The Movie's Success - CinemaBlend article
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Honest Trailer Is as Surprised by the Movie’s Success as the Rest of Us - The Mary Sue article
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Honest Trailer - Rocky Player One - Screen Rant article
- Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Honest Trailer Doesn't Buy the Hype - MovieWeb article
- ‘Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle’ Honest Trailer: Dwayne Johnson Is Rocky Player One - SlashFilm article