Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Effects-driven kids' adventure is charming but a bit grim.
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Jumanji
Parent and Kid Reviews
Based on 45 parent reviews
Parents say this film is a captivating family adventure that, while entertaining, can be frightening for younger children due to its intense themes and mild violence. Many appreciated the positive messages about perseverance, but some expressed concern about its suitability for very young viewers, highlighting the varying reactions of children based on their sensitivity to scary content.
- entertaining adventure
- intense themes
- varying reactions
- suitable for older kids
- positive messages
Summarized with AI
Summarized with AI
Based on 83 kid reviews
Kids say that the movie is a thrilling family classic, highlighted by Robin Williams' performance, though it can be scary for younger viewers due to intense scenes with animals and peril. While many appreciate its nostalgic value and entertaining adventure, some recommend it for older children, cautioning that it might be too frightening for very young audiences.
- classic adventure
- family-friendly
- thrilling performances
- scary elements
- suitable for older kids
Summarized with AI
What's the Story?
JUMANJI begins with a sequence showing a 19th-century expedition to bury a board game of unexplained origin. Then, in 1969, young Alan (Adam Hann-Byrd) happens to dig up the game and plays it. The relic materializes hordes of hostile African animals, and Alan gets sucked into the game's jungle world. More than 25 years later, orphans Peter (Bradley Pierce) and Judy (Kirsten Dunst) move into Alan's old house, find the game, and start playing, unleashing a fresh rampage of vicious beasts—and Alan (Robin Williams), who's now a full-grown man being tracked by old-school safari hunter Van Pelt (Jonathan Hyde). The only way to get everything back to normal is for the kids to play the game through to the end, even though each roll of the dice unleashes more attacking animals, from demonic bats to human-eating plants to a ghastly herd of giant spiders.
Is It Any Good?
Joe Johnston's effects-driven fantasy adventure has a darker tone than the kind of zippier adventures kids might be used to seeing. Jumanji has aspects of grief, lost childhood, and dysfunctional parenting that make the film interesting, even as those tones don't completely mesh well. Young viewers who aren't nightmare-prone might be slightly diverted by the computer-generated beasts, which suffer from the distracting rubberiness that many early CGI creatures had in the mid-1990s.
Williams pretty much plays it straight as the time-displaced, long-marooned Alan, which is still very watchable but makes you miss the more overt wackiness you get in some of his other family films. The young actors are good, but there's a heavy undercurrent of continual peril, death, and morbidity, with no breathing room. And the ending, in which history is rewritten for all of the characters, seems a little forced and doesn't dispel the general unpleasantness. But it's still a fascinating curiosity, a kid's film that grapples with weightier ideas while getting lost in the jungle of the '90s visual effects.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what they think makes for a good fantasy adventure film. Was Jumanji funny, or more on the darker side?
If you were going to remake this movie, is there anything you'd change, and if so, what?
Which game would you like to see come alive?
How does this film compare to other Jumanji titles, whether the original book, the reboot movies, or the animated TV show? Which is your favorite?
Movie Details
- In theaters : December 15, 1995
- On DVD or streaming : September 2, 2000
- Cast : Bonnie Hunt , Kirsten Dunst , Robin Williams
- Director : Joe Johnston
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Columbia Tristar
- Genre : Action/Adventure
- Topics : Fantasy ( Magic ) , Adventures , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Run time : 104 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence and scariness
- Award : Kids' Choice Award
- Last updated : June 16, 2026
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