When it was announced that Disney was taking another one of their theme park rides and building a cinematic universe around it, it was met with the usual scoffs and instinctive doubt. Jungle Cruise, like Pirates of the Caribbean before it, is a wildly popular ride that does what one would expect. You cruise down the rapids of the Amazon and it’s a water-soaked joy.
The thing is, never bet against the Mouse House. If you haven’t learned that by now, then one should also know to never bet against Dwayne Johnson. Pairing him with Emily Blunt in a period piece adventure, centered around the longstanding belief that the jungles of the Amazon hold keys to life, is a stroke of genius. Blunt and Johnson have the most charming chemistry. That can be elusive between stars at the best and completely absent at the worst.
Blunt is Dr. Lily Houghton, a plant scientist whose expertise concerning the treatment of ailments drives her. Her brother MacGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) knows all too well how much his sister has been obsessed with the fringes of medicine and the empty vat that is non-traditional healing methods. As the film commences, he is giving a speech to the medical society that rules London and England as the world is readying for “The Great War.”
They think the Houghtons are a joke and Lily sees the writing on the wall and takes matters into her own hands. She “liberates” an ancient arrowhead that viewers know will hold the key to the Houghtons getting further into the Amazon than any previous attempt, especially when they hook up with skipper Frank Wolff (Johnson).
Their search for this elusive tree has garnered some attention, especially from Jesse Plemons’ Prince Joachim of Germany, the son of the Kaiser, Wilhelm II. As has been reported repeatedly here at The Movie Mensch, a film like Jungle Cruise is only as good as its villain and when it comes to Prince Joachim, once again Plemons steals scenes left and right and once again proves to be a film’s unexpected MVP. The Game Night breakout has done it again.
Judging by how he is introduced and his interactions with Johnson’s Wolff, one would have half-expected that Paul Giamatti’s Nilo would be the Jungle Cruise baddie. He’s a classic white man of that era in a country where he is the minority, yet he acts, carries himself, and owns property and ships like he is the only game in town and by town, we mean the Amazon. It’s a good thing that Plemons is the main baddie because although Giamatti is one of our favorite thespians, he chews scenery more than “acts” in director Jaume Collet-Serra’s action-adventure-comedy.
When Wolff meets Lily for the first time, he is taken aback by her trousers—even calling her Dr. Pants. The set in his ways skipper has never experienced a “proper” English woman sporting anything but dresses and skirts. Thing is, Wolff has never met anyone like Lily in his lifetime—male or female. She challenges him and calls him out on everything from his eye-roll spurring jokes to a dated view of gender relations (and fashion for that matter).
A movie experience such as Jungle Cruise used to be a regular event at the cinemas, from Raiders of the Lost Ark to The Mummy (1999) and of course Romancing the Stone and even King Solomon’s Mines. Now, it’s rarer than a sex scene in a film positioned for a Best Picture nod.
This Cruise, an escapist entertaining slice of celluloid with the right stars serving up that priceless and elusive chemistry, will hopefully change that trend. Besides the impeccable chemistry of its leads, pulsating action sequences, the other storytelling element that those films share with Jungle Cruise is a film with a strong director behind the camera whose expertise in world-building from scratch is innate.
After triumphing with The Shallows, all while directing a trio of Liam Neeson actioners (Unknown, Non-Stop, and The Commuter), Collet-Serra takes a huge step forward with Jungle Cruise. The thing is that the scope, the budget, the effects team, and so on, are all exponentially larger when working on a Disney movie with hopes for the “F” word. You know, franchise.
Each one of the aforementioned movies (The Mummy, Raiders, et al) all had sequels. If there is a landscape that has to be returned to, it is the one Collet-Serra has crafted with Blunt and Johnson leading the way. He seamlessly interweaves a tale that feels like “old Hollywood” adventure-themed as is made today.
It should be rewarded. Jungle Cruise is a blast.
Blunt, thanks to her sublime talent—and the writings of screenwriters Michael Green, Glenn Ficarra, and John Requa—is bloody fantastic as Lily, which should surprise no one. This is an actress who can go do it all. For example, back in 2014, she effortlessly went from action heroine opposite Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow to the musical Into the Woods. In 2018 she played both Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns and famously went maternal in her husband’s (John Krasinski) A Quiet Place. Blunt is like an Olympian of the thespian arts.
Her mastery of her gift is on full display in Jungle Cruise. Her characterization is spot-on in capturing a woman of that time who was clearly way ahead of her time. Too often audiences are expected to hit that bottle of suspension of disbelief when it comes to certain characters in certain situations. With Blunt as Lily, even amongst this special effects-laden landscape, there is never any doubt at any moment that this woman would be commanding the respect of everyone she meets in South America because she has earned it. But what makes her so special in this film is something seemingly intangible. Blunt makes Johnson better.
Johnson is already firmly in his comfort zone, what with it being an actioner and all. His Wolff is not simply The Rock being The Rock onscreen. We learn things about him over the course of the film that could have just been lip service to pushing the narrative in the hands of other performers. The combination of Johnson and Blunt not only has the action hero upping his game as an actor on the day of the shoot but going that extra mile in finding his character’s soul, long before even arriving on the set.
Their connection is palpable and is largely why the film works.
It is true what they say that if the people onscreen are having a ball, so too will the audience. Not one to be left out but has not been enough saluting of the contribution of Whitehall as MacGregor. He and Blunt’s Lily are every ounce siblings and it is honestly a trio barreling down the Amazon. The relationship between MacGregor and Wolff too is something special and their comfort level with each other leads to a historic moment for Disney and action flicks in general. No spoilers here, but it doesn’t work if the hard work wasn’t done prior to even showing up on the set.
The film was built from the bottom up. It’s impossible to forget that Jungle Cruise began its journey as a popular ride at a theme park. Therefore, a skeleton of a story already existed. But taking it from Disneyland ride to a fully-flushed-out summer blockbuster—that will surprise many—requires creativity that is fostered organically and filled out in such a way that there is an immediate connection between audience and onscreen ensemble. All involved have done that… and so much more.
They say to surround yourself with people who make you better. I wouldn’t be surprised if Blunt landed in a future Johnson vehicle. One can see why Johnson had Collet-Serra tapped to helm his Black Adam (DC Comics) superhero tale. Collet-Serra has cooked up a tremendously enjoyable ride that never feels like a “ride.”
As a wrestler, Johnson used to ask, “Can you smell what The Rock is cooking?” When it comes to Jungle Cruise, that iconic inquiry should be morphed into a simple statement. “The Rock is cooking!” I dare you to leave the theater or turn off your Disney+ and not have a smile on your face. Resistance is futile.
Grade: A-