Jungle Cruise (2021) * *

 

Directed by:  Jaume Collet-Serra

Starring:  Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, Edgar Ramirez, Jesse Plemons, Paul Giamatti

Jungle Cruise is Indiana Jones lite.  It has plenty of stunts, CGI, near misses, and direct hits all done playfully, but what is lacking is the Indiana Jones spirit and purpose.   In the Indiana Jones series, Indy is in a race against time to prevent an archaeological find from falling into evil hands.   Jones wasn't simply tracking the Holy Grail, he was trying to keep it out of Nazi hands.   In Jungle Cruise circa 1916, heroes Dr. Lily Houghton (Blunt) and Amazon steamboat captain Frank Wolff (Johnson) are in a race against a German prince (Plemons) and a group of cursed 400-hundred-year old conquistadors trapped in the Amazonian jungle to discover "Tears of the Moon", petals from a tree which can cure just about any ailment.   

The villains are too cartoonish to be a serious threat to Lily and Frank's quest.   The movie makes a note that the action takes place "two years into the Great War", which unintentionally casts a pall over the events of Jungle Cruise.   Johnson and Blunt are more than capable comic leads, with Jack Whitehall in tow as Lily's foppish, yet loyal brother MacGregor.   There isn't much romantic chemistry between Johnson and Blunt.   They come off as a man and woman who may one day be great friends, especially when Frank's true nature reveals itself about midway through the trek down the Amazon.   The bulk of Jungle Cruise is full of action, but slight and lightweight.   I found I didn't care all that much about whose hands Tears of the Moon falls into, just as long as it fell into someone's.  

At a running time of 2 hours, 20 minutes (yikes), you begin to wonder if the adventure will ever end.   I had seen enough rapids, insects, snakes, piranhas, exploding engines, and chases to last me a while.  I'm sure there will be more of these awaiting us in the inevitable Jungle Cruise 2, which will ultimately wind up as a case of SSDD.   If it doesn't, I'll be the first to eat crow.