Jungle Cruise is an Exciting Ride

Snakes, rapid water, scary guys with swords, all on a cruise ship.  What could go wrong?

Jungle Cruise is an action-packed comedy with a bunch of humor both for parents and kids. 

The cast for this movie is absolutely amazing. Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Frank, a funny captain of a small boat called a jungle cruise. Emily Blunt plays Lily Houghton, a sneaky, witty, self-sufficient explorer searching for a tree with magical properties. In the present.

This movie is about Lily Houghton desiring to find a tree with the ability to heal. The reason she wants to find this is to have the petal and save people, have money, and fame. The only way to get there is having to take a jungle cruise through the Amazon. That is where Frank comes in as the captain of the jungle cruise. This adventure takes place on the Amazon River, so they have to face many obstacles to get to this healing tree.

You could classify this movie as an adventure, comedy, action, and a romance. The adventure is the cruise because Lily and Frank face the rapid water, snakes, and each other. The humor in this movie is hilarious, there is a bunch of action involved in the cruise, and there is a little bit of romance built into this movie. Lily and Frank have chemistry; their love is more like opposites attract. 

Jungle Cruise was filmed in parts of Hawaii and Georgia, even though the setting of this movie is on the Amazon river.  It was released on July 28, 2021, and directed by Juame Collet-Serra. The effects looked very life-like, and not too animated. 

Jungle Cruise is very entertaining; but, it does have moments where it can be confusing and hard to understand. It would show something and then would explain it later in the movie. It only happens a couple of times, but if you plan on taking a younger one, they might get confused. I recommend that if you plan to watch this movie in the theaters and you have a younger child with you, be prepared for them to be a little scared from some minor jump scares.

Despite that, this movie is engaging and funny for all age groups. There is witty humor for the adults, which my parents really appreciated when we saw it in theaters. My siblings and I did a lot of laughing as well.  Based on my family, the ages I recommend for this film are from 12 to 43. So really, any age group could find this movie funny and can really get you thinking. 

Should you see it in the theater in the time of COVID-19? I was extremely comfortable. I did not feel unsafe; there were only four or five groups there including my family, and there were definitely more than three to six feet between each group. I wore my mask other than when I had to take a drink of water. 

Overall, I would give this movie four out of five stars. I’m not giving it a full five stars rating because, at times, it can be a little tricky to understand. That’s just the way the plot is.  It was not the most entertaining at those times, but I was engaged with the movie most of the time, and I understood the context of what was going on. Currently, you can watch Jungle Cruise in the theater, as well as Disney+, but you will have to pay a fee of $29.99.