Disney has made a few movies based on rides found at their Disney Parks, with varying degrees of success. 1997’s made-for-TV flickTower of Terrorwas their first foray into the concept, but by far the most successful one has beentheirPirates of the Caribbeanseries. The first film in the series,Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, was a huge success both critically and commercially, even earning an Oscar nomination.
BecausePirates of the Caribbeanwas such a success, it makes sense that future projects based on Disney rides would take on some notes from the series. However, taking notes is different than practically recreating a film that’s already been made. Unfortunately, Disney’s latest ride-based film seems to cross that line. WhileJungle Cruiseis still a relatively fun movieto watch, it does feel like a worsePirates of the Caribbean.
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The story ofJungle Cruisefollows a sister and brother duo,played by Emily Bluntand Jack Whitehall. They’re on a mission to find a tree in the Amazon that is said to have magical petals. These petals are meant to have healing powers, and the main characters want to essentially save the world with their magic. No one in London believes their findings, and no one wants to help them find the tree. When they decide to make the journey on their own, they hire a wisecracking jungle cruise tour operator played by Dwayne Johnson to help them.
While the general plot doesn’t sound exactly like aPirates of the Caribbeanripoff, there are way too many similarities. Both films have deformed undead pirates with similar backstories, as well as legends that can heal people and keep them alive.The characters are similar, and so is the setting. There are so many ways thatJungle Cruisecould have gone, and it could have been very original and a lot of fun. Unfortunately, that just isn’t the direction they decided upon.
Jungle Cruiseis what would happen if all of thePirates of the Caribbeanfilms got together and made a baby. Not only are the pirates undead, but their backstory is very reminiscent ofPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. In that film, the pirates serving Davy Jones on The Flying Dutchman are cursed and bound to the ship. They become very deformed and, eventually, become part of the ship. InJungle Cruise, the undead pirates are cursed and bound to the Amazon River. They also look deformed and can become part of the jungle.
The tree with the magical healing petals that the main characters are looking for is super reminiscent of the fourth film in thePiratesfranchise,Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. That filmrevolves around Captain Jack Sparrow’ssearch for the legendary Fountain of Youth. Though the characters inJungle Cruisetechnically aren’t looking for the actual Fountain of Youth, the object of their affection is very similar. Overall, they could have been looking for anything and a magical healing agent feels quite unoriginal.
The characters here are different from the main characters ofPirates of the Caribbean, but not different enough.Dwayne Johnson’s characterreally is just a worse Captain Jack Sparrow. They both love boats and the water, they’re both clever, and they’re both a bit morally ambiguous. They’re the good-looking bad boys whose lovable sides come out by the end. This may not have been as big of an offense as it is if thecharacterization of Jack Sparrowwasn’t so acclaimed and if this was the only similarity. Because this is on top of everything else though, it feels pretty annoying. The sister and brother main characters are okay, and not tooPirates of the Caribbeanreminiscent, but they are rather forgettable in general.
Finally, the settings just feel too similar.Jungle Cruiseof course has to be set on the water so by default, the settings have to be similar. But, similarly to why Dwayne Johnson’s character feels so annoying when there are somany otherPiratessimilarities, the water, and boat setting feels like just another element of films that came out years ago. This wouldn’t have been so noticeable without the other issues, and that is unfortunate, but it’s still impossible to ignore.
By all accounts,Jungle Cruisehas its strengths and is relatively enjoyable. It’s fun and full of adventure, and it’s a great summer movie. Keeping in elements of the ride, like Skipper’s insanely corny jokes, adds a lot to the filmfor Disney Parks fans. It’s just baffling why they would have wanted to make this film just so similar toPirates of the Caribbean. It almost seems like they wanted to recreate the magic they had with that film and felt that simply recreating it would have been the best way to go about that. Unfortunately, this film feels far more like a worse version ofPiratesthan it does a good film that capturesPirates’essence.
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