Things Only Adults Noticed In Jumanji: The Next Level

Jumanji: The Next Level is packed with action and jokes, with plenty to keep even the child with the shortest attention span happy. There's also plenty of stuff to keep older viewers engaged... and asking questions. These are some of things that only adult moviegoers will notice in Jumanji: The Next Level but beware: there are spoilers ahead!

It's hard not to wonder who Jumanji: The Next Level thinks its audience is. The film's marketed as a family film. After all, its central protagonists are teenagers and the action revolves around a video game with lots of jokes and action sequences to fill out the running time. There's a romantic subplot involving Martha and Spencer, two warring friends resolve their differences, and every character learns a little about themselves. Yes, like its predecessor, there's a little something for everybody in Jumanji: The Next Level — a little too much. Kid viewers may marvel at the dazzling array of treats on offer, but adults may be puzzled as to who, exactly, this movie is for.

It's a kids' movie, but the kids in it are college-age, so then they're actually adults. Coming to terms with aging is a major theme — Danny DeVito's Eddie learns that growing old isn't a burden but rather "a gift" and he goes back into the workforce after 15 years of fuming over his business partner selling his restaurant. That's not exactly something kids can relate to, but then, older adult viewers who would get all that probably don't care too much about the inner workings of video games.

It takes a while for Jumanji: The Next Level to get going, which is to say to get the young quartet of friends into the video game world and into the skins of their movie star avatars. The long first act of the movie catches up the audience on what Bethany, Spencer, Fridge, and Martha have been up to since last they were seen in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. In short, they've all graduated high school and moved away Martha is in college, Fridge is too, Bethany does charity work, and Spencer works a dreary job in a Manhattan pharmacy. They all reconnect when they come home for the holidays, or at least they try to. Keep watching the video to see all things only adults noticed in Jumanji: The Next Level!

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Awkward teenage years | 0:23
Don't you forget about me | 1:29
Post-graduation blues | 2:42
Winter is coming | 3:31
Jumanji of Arabia | 4:58