Jungle Cruise
Dir: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Edgar Ramírez, Jack Whitehall
Rating: 3/5

Shades of ‘The Mummy’ and ‘Raiders of the lost Ark’ series notwithstanding, this latest Disney live action offering based on its popular theme park ride, has the chutzpah and goofy romp to score well with the theatre going audience. Director Jaume Collet-Serra ("The Shallows") helms a fantastical series of set-piece escapades that involve several centuries-old swashbucklers and villains crossing swords and quips with English feminist adventurer Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her snooty, effete, pampered, brother, MacGregor (Jack Whitehall).

Lily is in search of the Tears of the Moon, petals from a fauna that can heal all infirmities… and therefore travels to the Amazon circa 1916, based on directions from maps left behind by her legendary father. Lily enlists the aid of wisecracking captain/adventurer, skipper Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) - of a rather decrepit riverboat, to take her down the Amazon. Wolff regularly takes tourists upriver, makes cheesy jokes and provides for costumed adventure entertainment in his bid to stay afloat in the business. His run-ins with gold-toothed, sunburned, “Italian” harbor master (Paul Giamatti), and Lily’s with Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), set the tone for an exciting series of CGI aided effrontery that keeps the narrative speeding up at a pace all-too-inveigling.