With only days left to go before the premiere of Jungle Cruise, critical reactions have dropped regarding the upcoming action-adventure movie starring Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt inspired by the longtime Disney ride. Jungle Cruise will be released in theaters on July 30 and also be available to stream on Disney+ that same date via Disney Premier Access.
The film, which is set during the early 20th century, follows the adventures of a riverboat captain who takes a British scientist and her brother on a mission into a jungle to find the Tree of Life. In the process, they must fight dangerous animals, a deadly environment, and a competing expedition party who wants to beat them to the tree first. Jaume Collet-Serra directs Jungle Cruise from a script by Michael Green and Glenn Ficarra & John Requa, based on a story by John Norville & Josh Goldstein and Ficarra & Requa. In addition to Johnson, who plays "Skipper" Frank Wolff and Blunt, who plays Dr. Lily Houghton, Jungle Cruise also stars Jesse Plemons as Prince Joachim, Edgar Ramírez as Aguirre, Jack Whitehall as MacGregor Houghton, and Paul Giamatti as Nilo Nemolato.
Now, with the movie primed for release in a matter of days, it's time to find out what the critics thought about Jungle Cruise. Has Disney struck gold again in its latest attempt to adapt a theme park ride into a feature story, or does this film not quite measure up to its predecessor Pirates of the Caribbean? Check out some of the early reactions below — we'll keep updating as more continue to come in.
First off, here's what our own Perri Nemiroff, Christina Radish, and Steve Weintraub had to say about the film:
Critics seem to agree that the film is a fun throwback to family adventure movies of old.
Additionally, other reviewers pointed out there are a LOT of fun references to the original ride for fans to keep an eye out for, as well as loving homages to such films as Romancing the Stone, The African Queen, and Indiana Jones (but called out Plemons in particular as a highlight):