Sight and Sound
"...The pleasures of JUMANJI lies in its echoes of JURASSIC PARK, the incontrovertible evidence that magic exists and can..." 03/01/1996 p.44-5USA Today
"...[A] very entertaining special effects extravaganza..." -- 3 1/2 out of 4 stars 12/15/1995 p.1D Variety
"...The film unleashes an arsenal of special effects that are dazzling to the eye....In addition to Williams' heartfelt, vulnerable performance, Hunt elicits humor and pathos..." 12/11/1995 Los Angeles Times
"...Filled with magnificent, computer-animated fantasy images..." 12/15/1995 p.F1 ReelViews 6 of 10
Apparently, the producers of Jumanji wanted this film to be a Jurassic Park for 1995's holiday season. If so, it's a badly misplaced, and ultimately futile, hope. For, although no one would suspect Steven Spielberg's 1993 dino-picture of having a plot worthy of great literature, at least it had a storyline -- something this film is lacking. Jumanji takes approximately one-hundred minutes for four people to play a board game. The result isn't much more fun or involving than watching a few friends play Monopoly. Even the Robin Williams manic humor can't save Jumanji, at least not entirely...This is the kind of embarrassing dud that results when Hollywood places special effects and a neat concept over a well-told story. The children's book Jumanji, written by Chris Van Allsburg, makes for good reading for a young audience, but it's hardly the sort of material upon which to base a major motion picture. The men and women behind Jumanji didn't just lose a turn; they lost their way. - James Berardinelli
Reel.com 9 of 10
After the back-to back bombs Bicentennial Man and Jakob the Liar, the onetime funnyman has transformed himself into the king of pain-inducing schmaltz. But in what just might be the last great Robin Williams outing, Jumanji takes us on a whirlwind of storybook adventure and special-effects magic...Most of us are already familiar with the story of Jumanji in some form, which takes its premise from Caldecott Medal-winning author Chris Van Allsburg's book of the same name...From this foundation, screenwriters Greg Taylor, Jim Strain, and Jonathan Hensleigh devised the legacy of Jumanji, which begins in 1869 as two frazzled boys bury the game in the woods. Cut to 1969 -- when the mysterious game is found by young Alan Parrish (Adam Hann-Byrd), who, after releasing a bevy of bats by an ill-fated dice roll, is sucked into the arboreal confines of the Jumanji game itself, and is never heard from again. Fast-forward to the present day and newcomers to the now-vacant Parrish house, children Judy (Kirsten Dunst) and Peter (Bradley Pierce), and Aunt Nora (Bebe Neuwirth). - Marc Fortier
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