Disney’s newest release, Jungle Cruise, followed the story of Dr. Lily Houghton (Emily Blunt) and her brother McGregor Houghton (Jack Whitehall) as they traveled to the Amazon to uncover the legend behind “Tears of the Moon”: a plant that has magical healing properties. They hired Frank Wolff (Dwayne Johnson) and his pet leopard; Frank acted as their skipper, taking them down the many rivers of the Amazon on his run-down, questionable boat, La Quila. They faced many natural challenges, as well as obstacles from Prince Joachim (Jesse Plemons), a prince from Germany, who wanted the magic powers from the petal for his country, and Aguirre (Edgar Ramirez), an ancient conquistador who had been trapped in the jungle for centuries. 

The movie started out in England in the 1920s with McGregor causing a distraction while Dr. Lily stole the arrowhead needed to find the legend. In this scene, the audience was introduced to the villain Prince Joachim. This beginning scene set up most of the information needed for the movie: an explanation for the “Tears of the Moon.” But after this exciting and fast paced scene, everything seemed to slow down. 

The rest of the movie seemed to take forever; even the action scenes seemed like they were moving in slow motion. Part of the reason the movie seemed slow was the fact most of the “plot twists” were predictable. 

Another issue with the script was a plot hole that appears in the middle of the movie. Prince Joachim knew an aspect of the legend that he had no way of knowing, and he used that secret to gain an advantage over Lily, McGregor, and Frank.

Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson is known for his roles in action movies, but not necessarily his romance. The budding romance between Frank and Lily was cringeworthy. There seemed to be little chemistry between the two, although the plot advances as though they do. Their romance was not unexpected, but very awkward. 

The film also brushed on a few “touchy subjects” when it comes to the 1920’s: one example being sexism. Lily faced large amounts of rejection from male-dominated studies and universities. At times, Lily used her brother McGregor as her spokesperson, so the organizations would take her requests seriously. And there were plenty of comments about the fact that a woman was wearing pants. 

Overall, the movie was mediocre. The plot line was not overly complicated; it was easy to follow. It lacked originality, but it was family friendly. This happy-go-lucky film was full of “laugh-out-loud” moments. The best part of the movie was Frank’s puns. Some were so cheesy they were cringy, and others that were so carefully thought out that audiences laughed hard. The puns in the movie truly made Jungle Cruise the lighthearted Disney movie it is.