Watched this for the first time in years yesterday.
It's full of imagination and has a lot of great visuals, but there's an uneven tone that has never sat well with me. Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt bring gravitas that hint they're acting in a much heavier movie, while the kids and David Alan Grier ham it up. The underlying darker implications of the dead parents, PTSD for the adult characters, and a town wrecked by financial strife is in direct contradiction to the silly hijinks on display. Is Jumanji and its manifestations a foreboding threat, or a chance for a slapstick adventure?
Also features one of the better "everyone dies and is then saved by time travel" moments, along with Galaxy Quest and that 5th season episode of Angel.
What saves the movie is the game itself. The design work on the box, the conception of the game, and the creatures that emerge from it are all brilliant. Along with that, the special FX are a great combination of practical and CGI. Although the CGI doesn't hold up today, the way it's integrated into scenes is really impressive. Those monkeys look like they're out of a PS1 game, but their wrecking the kitchen lends credibility and weight. Jonathan Hyde is also incredibly engaging as both Sam Parrish and Van Pelt, and I love the implication of Alan being hunted by the memory and physical incarnation of his father's shadow for 26 years. Unfortunately that results in a really awkward and obvious scene in which Alan, like his father would have, yells at Peter for crying.
Uneven, but enjoyable enough.
