While A Minecraft Movie might be one of Jack Black’s biggest action fantasy movies ever, it is not quite good enough to outdo an earlier entry into the genre from the blockbuster star. Jack Black’s biggest movies prove that the comedic actor is nothing if not versatile.
Over the decades, Black has appeared in everything from cult comedies like Shallow Hal, Orange County, and Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny to monster movies like King Kong and Anaconda. Animated hits like the Super Mario Bros Movie and the Kung Fu Panda franchise make him a blockbuster mainstay, but there’s another genre that crops up a lot in his onscreen oeuvre.
From 2010’s Gulliver’s Travels to 2015’s Goosebumps, Jack Black loves a good action comedy fantasy movie. This genre blend seems to be particularly suited to his talents, judging by A Minecraft Movie’s $960 million box office payday. However, <em>Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle</em> remains the star’s best outing in this genre.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Is Still Jack Black’s Best Action Fantasy Movie
The Jumanji franchise has an unusual trajectory, beginning with 1995’s fantasy adventure based on 1981’s picture book of the same name by author Chris Van Allsburg. 1995’s original movie already took a lot of creative license in adapting the picture book, but 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle flipped the entire premise on its head.
Where 1995’s movie was about a cursed board game whose threats flooded the real world when the game was played, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was about a cursed video game that pulled viewers into its imaginary world when the game was activated. This resulted in one of Black’s most inspired performances ever.
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle Has One of Jack Black’s Funniest Performances Ever
When Madison Iseman’s superficial high school drama queen, Bethany, is pulled into the game, she becomes the squat, nerdy Professor Sheldon “Shelly” Oberon. This means viewers get the joy of seeing Black play a preening, self-obsessed, but ultimately good-natured teenage girl trapped in the body of an aging academic.
The comedic superstar milks this gag for all it is worth, and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle manages to turn what could be a hackneyed joke into something truly inspired as a result. Whether Professor Shelly is teaching a classmate how to flirt or delighting in the new appendages her male body provides, Black steals the show.
While Black’s A Minecraft Movie performance is great, the busier, more chaotic blockbuster doesn’t have the same emotional resonance as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. A surprisingly smart and poignant coming-of-age comedy wrapped in an action fantasy premise, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle remains Jack Back’s best entry into the genre despite A Minecraft Movie’s success.
