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Dir: Jake Kasdan (12A 105 mins)
A puzzlingly unnecessary retread of the 1995 family film starring Robin Williams about an enchanted boardgame, but this time with more Rock. Alas thanks to society moving forward, it’s not an enchanted boardgame, but an old videogame that embroils four teenagers in a jungle world. They are turned from their stereotypes – jock, nerd, prom queen, geek girl – into their avatars on the game, becoming Chris Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black and Karen Gillan respectively. Their personalities do not suit their characters, so we have a body swap comedy on top of the usual CGI FX shenanigans. They each have three lives, various strengths and weaknesses and a deep need to escape their predicament. There should be plenty of fun to be had, especially from Black and Johnson and an ass-kicking Gillan, making this a diverting if bizarre raiding of a so-so film from a mere 22 years ago…actually that’s quite a long time now isn’t it? Gulp.
Opens December 20