Amazon.co.uk Review
Based on the children's book by
Chris Van Allsburg ,
Jumanji stars Robin Williams as a man who escapes his confinement within a devilish board game, only to be followed by all kinds of exotic problems: elephants, lions, zebras, monkeys, floods, giant insects, killer plants and a big-game hunter. The computer-generated effects all wreak havoc through quiet streets, and while most of this is pretty good fun, relationship conflicts and character development are weak and forgettable. The high point, in comic terms, is probably David Alan Grier's hilarious performance as a cop catching the worst of these various plagues--one at a time.
Steven Spielberg's deeply flawed but sporadically fun and moving update of the Peter Pan legend Hook stars Robin Williams as the grown-up Pan, a corporate-takeover type who must embrace his old identity in order to save his kids from Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman). The stars put on a good show, including Hoffman's reading of Hook's hysterical personality and Maggie Smith's touching performance as the aged Wendy. The visual contrast between the adult Pan's bustling outside world and the insulated fantasy of Never-never Land is striking, but Spielberg's ideas about the Lost Boys--politically correct in their ethnic diversity, energetic on skateboards--are contrived and cheapening.--Tom Keogh, Amazon.com
