With Zathura, the Jon Favreau-directed sequel of sorts to Jumanji, hitting cinemas this month - yes, sirree! - it's time for the original to pop up again on DVD. Firmly rooted in the "Hey Kids, Scary Things!" school of filmmaking, Jumanji is the game where the loaded dice brought forth cheeky monkeys, stampeding rhinos and Robin Williams. Sporting jungle chic, he plays man/monkey/child (ie himself) Alan Parrish. Trapped in the game, he's only released when Kirsten Dunst gets the dice rolling 26 years later.
DVD Extras:
It's a lot of fun - if you're under 12. And the extras clarify this: who wants featurettes when you have Secrets And Riddles, a quiz on the film itself? Who wants a behind-the-scenes when you've got The Extreme Book of Nature? Can you out-run lions? No! "Running away is difficult." What about monkeys as pets? No! "They throw their own poo!" Strange, then, that the yak-track consists of FX geeks talking about 'flocking software'. That really is a bored game.
