A Seattle moviegoing lifestyle magazine
As long as I’ve been writing about the arts (somewhere near twenty years now), I’ve tried to keep any effusiveness in check, lest I feel like one of those critics whose names appear on movie posters declaring some Hollywood dreck like a Transformers movie life-changing. So when I left the theater after watching Oppenheimer, my emotions were almost foreign. I felt wonder and astonishment and like I had seen one of the best films I’ve seen in my life.
Jungle Cruise, based on the Disney World amusement park ride of the same name, begins in the early 1800’s with Lily (Emily Blunt) and MacGregor (Jack Whitehall) McHughton attempting to convince a bunch of stuffed shirts to allow them to borrow an artifact that they believe will lead the two to a tree with healing powers beyond anything the world could imagine. Lily manages to nab the artifact without permission thoroughly pissing off an ominous German military man who desires the same magical healing only to help the German army in WWI. He then pursues them throughout the film as the perpetual baddy causing havoc. After a number of mishaps and deceptions Frank (Dwayne Johnson), a gruff yet charming riverboat captain, agrees to take the siblings through treacherous terrain to find the ancient tree, hinting at designs of his own. A lot of dad jokes, some love/hate chemistry between Lily and Frank, and a bit of danger leads us to their final destination where they face off with several enemies while attempting to gain their prize.
