Book to Movie Review: Jumanji

Kelsie Lomax

Book to Movie Review

          I chose the book Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg and watched the movie to accompany it. When it came to the original story line, I think the producers pretty much stuck to the original. There were only a few differences. For instance, the producers kept the strange happenings involving animals the same. The book and the movie contained the parts where monkeys raided the kitchen. They also contained the lion appearing out of nowhere. Another similarity was keeping the original characters names of Judy and Peter. There were a few major differences. In the movie, they portray a boy caught in the game for 26 years. Judy and Peter suddenly bring him out of the game by rolling a five or an eight. The book mentions nothing of this. Another major difference is how in the movie, the children live with their aunt because their parents passed away. In the book the children are two kids with parents who are very much alive.

          I agree with the casting selections very much so. I feel that the people cast in the film did their very best to bring the book to life. Peter and Judy are played by people who even look like the children in the book. Although the illustrations are vague, you can definitely spot similarities. The cast also does a great job of reiterating most of what was said in the storyline. Animation is not used in the movie, which I think was the correct choice. Animation simply would not have sufficed here. The real people and good graphics used really helped keep one interested. Therefore, I wouldn’t change the cast that was chosen for this movie as I strongly feel each and every cast member chosen played the part very well.

          When it comes to the movie and the book, I prefer the movie. Normally I am a book person, as it takes me to another world when I read. However, Jumanji is a short book that didn’t contain enough information to keep me interested. The book is very vague and predictable. Also, I feel as though the book should have contained more detail. It was mostly a picture book. I found it to be quite boring. I like to be entertained and drawn into stories when reading a book. I simply didn’t get to experience that feeling when I had the actual story in my hands.  However, the movie picks up details that the book should have contained. Everything portrayed in the movie absolutely kept me hanging on. It brought the story to life and helped me get a better understanding of what Jumanji is really about. In the movie, more strange happenings occurred, the story was changed up a bit, and other characters were brought into the mix. This helped make things a bit more interesting.

          Last but not least, I would give the movie a (very) positive thumbs up. I have never before seen the movie before this project, so it was new to me. This was also the first time I had read the book. I think the movie is fun, upbeat, entertaining, detailed, explanatory, action packed, and unpredictable. I feel that those are all qualities that make a movie great and fun to watch. The producer obviously put a lot of thought into making this a great film and it was very much appreciated by me when viewing it. I think the book was made into a movie for many reasons. I think each and every reason has to do with entertainment purposes. Personally, I don’t find this movie to be educational or serve any educational purpose at all. It is fun to watch but that is about as far as it goes. I probably wouldn’t show this in my classroom unless we were taking a little ‘break’ from our studies.