After the success of the sleeper hit Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, it was only a matter of time before a sequel got made. Jumanji: The Next Level is pretty much Welcome to the Jungle all over again. It's a fun movie, it's cleverly written, and that's about it. It covers many of the same beats, but it's still funny because the premise is something that can be used for a whole new set of different jokes and gags. Spencer goes back to Jumanji, and the others need to get him back. Only this time, Spencer's grandfather (Danny DeVito) and his business partner (Danny Glover) get sucked in too. At the beginning, Danny DeVito is in the Rock's body, Danny Glover in Kevin Hart, Fridge in Jack Black, and Martha returns to Karen Gillan.

The main source of humor is people adjusting to being in different bodies and having different abilities, and it is based on the idea of people ending up in the bodies of people drastically contrast with who they are as people. The reason it works is that the audience is somehow able to see Danny DeVito as the Rock, rather than the just Rock acting like an old guy. It's a difficult thing to pull off, and it does so successfully. While the idea of the old guys adjusting is funny at first, it does get old after a while. It funny enough on its own to make it a good time. Much like the previous movie, it carries a strong sense of adventure. It does end on a sequel hook, so Jumanji 4 is inevitable at this point. Based on this and WTTJ, we can imagine it's going to be a fun, entertaining, and enjoyable.

Even though its central concept seems ever-so-slightly more strained this time, 'Jumanji: The Next Level (2019)' is about as good as its predecessor. In fact, it's sometimes even better. Basically, the flick is just fun. The crowd-pleasing body-swapping is amped up to eleven, shaking things up just enough so that they feel fresh. The main actors continue to properly impress in their chameleon-like roles, joined by a few extra treats that perform far better than you'd perhaps expect. Indeed, these new players are probably its biggest asset; a couple of them thoroughly perforate the entire experience despite only having a rather small amount of screen-time. The picture is often funny - though, never hilarious - and is oddly endearing, to boot. It isn't particularly deep or, even, memorable but it doesn't need to be. It's a good time at the movies; what more do you need? Obviously some better theming and, perhaps, a tad of nuance wouldn't go amiss, but it's just not that kind of film really and that's perfectly fine. Even if it doesn't impact you as much as some of the year's best, it'll certainly make you smile and keep you entertained for a couple of hours. Besides, its inciting incident is driven purely by character and it even manages to squeeze some genuine emotional connection, via a well-drawn dynamic between DeVito and Glover, into its otherwise otherworldly proceedings. Its acting is also deceptively simple but decidedly fantastic, fully immersing you in the idea that these major stars are actually four teenagers and two old men. Basically, it's not as simple as you might think. 7/10

It's OK, but, not nearly as good as the first one.

It's much less funny, much less interesting, the "video game look&feel" doesn't work as good, and in the last third of the movie Karen Gillan is fully clothed. There are some sequences that don't seem to have any real sense or purpose and are not very funny or interesting, like the whole "switch players while bathing in green goo", which actually happens _twice_ in the movie...

Of course, part of it is because the concept has already been explored in the first movie, so it's not as interesting this time around. But, still, they could have done it a little better, rather then trying to do it "a little less".

On the plus side, Kevin Hart does a _great_ impression of Danny Glover.

While it's an OK watch, I don't think it improves on the experience you get from the first movie and I don't believe you can fully enjoy it without watching the first movie, so, I would not recommend watching it.