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Review of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (Henry Jackman/Various)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if formulaic, workmanlike adventure/fantasy music for orchestra and choir suffices for the occasion, this entry taking more than a little inspiration from Alan Silvestri.

Avoid it... if you demand catchy themes and convincing depth to the fantasy element, for Henry Jackman and his team offer significant narrative development but little memorable appeal.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle: (Henry Jackman/Various) Because board games are no longer cool, the Jumanji concept on the big screen transitioned to video games with 2017's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, a direct sequel to the original 1995 film. A new group of youths, this time a variety of high school misfits with the usual interpersonal problems, finds itself sucked into the game digitally and given the task of returning a magic jewel to a shrine despite attacks from the game's villain and all the jungle animals under his control. While mainly serving as another vehicle for actor Dwayne Johnson to flex his pecs in a jungle setting, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle does offer some direct connections to the 1995 film. The movie shrugged off critical indifference to milk a fair profit from audiences, guaranteeing multiple sequels with the same cast over the following few years. (Nobody should be surprised that Johnson himself became a producer for the series after the initial sequel.) Writer and director Jake Kasdan initially turned to veteran composer James Newton Howard in 2016 for the film's score, but delays in the post-production period caused a scheduling conflict that eventually landed Kasdan the Hans Zimmer spin-off, Henry Jackman. While not of the same A-list caliber as Howard, Jackman had proven his capability with cheeky adventure music of an orchestral nature. With him comes the usual assortment of assistant composers in Zimmer style, Halli Cauthery and Paul Mounsey providing substantial material to the end product this time around. Nothing explicit from James Horner's score for Jumanji carries over, though that work was never his best, emphasizing symphonic chaos over a satisfying narrative. There are times in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, especially those involving animal attack sequences, when the orchestral mayhem that Jackman produces vaguely resembles Horner's approach. Likewise, the moments of solo horn lament, as in "Out of Lives," are reminiscent of the late composer's style. But the true inspiration for the music of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is Alan Silvestri, who may as well have scored some of this film himself. Listeners will hear a fair amount of vintage Silvestri action material dating all the way back to Romancing the Stone and including the two Predator scores. The same thematic highlights aren't there in Jackman's impression, but the style is unmistakable in the heroic fanfare, the action rhythms, and the uneven development of the villain's material.

While the rhythmic formations and orchestrations of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle will remind listeners of Silvestri's mannerisms throughout, the score attempts to compete more generally with Andrew Lockington's methodology, and against this competition, Jackman and crew falls behind. There is a substantial amount of solid action material in this work, but it lacks the convincing fantasy element necessary for the subject, perhaps in part due to Jackman's difficulty modulating his robust action highlights down to character themes and attractive fantasy. A rather muted presence for choir is odd in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, the magical elements never sufficiently addressed musically; the choral passages that do exist are short and tend to have a Stargate vibe. In the orchestrations, Jackman's team plays it straight, with snare rhythms aplenty and brass carrying the main theme in both solo and fanfare form. One notable nod to Nicholas Dodd techniques resides in the wild flute phrases supporting several of the main theme's major performances. The score offers three major themes and one secondary idea that will stick in the mind, albeit only briefly. The primary fanfare of the score is fairly decent and anchors the entirety of "The Jumanji Overture" and recurs in "Digging Up the Past," "The Legend of the Jewel," and other mission-oriented cues, culminating in victory during "Call Out Its Name." The contemporary relationship scenes usually outside the game are served an acoustic guitar base with the melodic line carried by piano, plucked strings, or woodwinds in "Brantford High," "First Kiss," and with zest in "Back to School." The melody of these passages is actually the full-ensemble friendship theme within the game that flourishes at the ends of "The Adventure Begins" and "An Older Friend." A marginal theme for the villain stews in the latter half of "Van Pelt" but is more forcefully introduced in the middle of "The Legend of the Jewel." Finally, a rhythmic action motif that bursts forth at the start of "The Power of Bravestone" and "Call Out Its Name" offers a solid backing for the score's main identities in several cues. These themes combine to form a clear narrative, though none is particularly catchy. The top two, the related main fanfare and friendship themes, would return in almost identical form in Jackman's score for the sequel, Jumanji: The Next Level, in 2019. The mix of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle on album leaves the choir far behind the orchestral ensemble, further sapping the fantasy element. Still, it's a workmanlike success from Jackman even if it passes anonymously for most of its length. Enthusiasts of the work will find the slightly better 2019 sequel score to be largely redundant aside from its flashier villain's material and Arabian interludes.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 60:24

• 1. The Jumanji Overture (3:20) • 2. Digging Up the Past (1:43) • 3. Brantfort High (1:09) • 4. Into the Jungle (1:23) • 5. Out of Character (2:31) • 6. The Legend of the Jewel (2:23) • 7. The Adventure Begins (1:40) • 8. Special Abilities (1:16) • 9. The Bikers (3:44) • 10. Van Pelt (1:00) • 11. A Test of Friendship (1:22) • 12. The Bazaar (1:16) • 13. Snake Charmer (3:41) • 14. The Power of Bravestone (1:04) • 15. Seaplane McDonough (2:17)

• 16. The Missing Piece (1:46) • 17. Lost in Time (1:18) • 18. Flirting With Danger (1:36) • 19. Albino Rhinos (3:44) • 20. Retrieving the Emerald (1:54) • 21. Out of Lives (1:49) • 22. First Kiss (1:22) • 23. The Jaguars (3:03) • 24. Ring of Fire (2:07) • 25. Begin The Climb (1:56) • 26. Call Out Its Name (2:23) • 27. leaving Jumanji (3:03) • 28. An Older Friend (2:40) • 29. Back to School (1:53)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.

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