WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE DVD (2013)

SYNOPSIS: Chris (Adam Brody) is a workplace weakling who doesn't have the courage to stand up to the slick office bully, Phil (Rob Huebel), who steals all his ideas, and he has yet to muster the courage to ask out cute HR manager, Lisa (Megan Boone). Even Chris' only friend, Jared (Eric Edelstein), a sarcastic slacker IT guy who secretly monitors everyone's porn intake, slams Chris for being a sissy. But when a team-building "wilderness seminar" goes horribly wrong, and unhinged ex-marine teambuilding coach Storm Rothchild (Jean-Claude Van Damme) gets mauled by a tiger, Chris and his co-workers find themselves stranded on a deserted tropical island with no rescue in sight – and someone's going to have to step up and take charge. Phil quickly proclaims himself "God" of the island – but Chris has Boy Scout skills and would be far better suited to lead the group if he could overcome his fear – of everything. Can Chris finally start acting like a man and face Phil, release his inner-beast, get them rescued and win the girl? Or will Phil triumph, as usual, while Chris cowers like an effeminate weakling?

MOVIE REVIEW:

Are you seriously thinking of watching Welcome to the Jungle because a certain Jean-Claude Van Damme is placed right in the center of the DVD cover? Then I must say you will be very disappointed by the time the movie ends.  

Not related to the Guns N’ Roses song in any way, this comedy, which was made way back in 2012, is atrociously boring not that JCVD is bad at comedy, for the record he makes the very best out of every dumb line that is fed to him and he is all too keen to make fun of himself.

Adam Brody (whose career has since dissipated after the end of O.C.) plays Chris, a nice, timid guy working in an ad agency who simply does not muster enough courage to go against office bully Phil (Rob Huebel). Phil mocks and steals Chris’ ideas and even has eyes for his secret love interest Lisa (Megan Boone). When a mandatory team building exercise on a deserted island led by military man Storm Rothschild (JCVD) went wrong, Chris realizes that he must stand up against Phil in order to get everyone out of the island alive. 

Welcome to the Jungle has all the elements to establish what it would be an uproarious adventurous comedy. For a start, the cast is perfect with the inclusion of comedians such as Huebel, Kristen Schaal (playing a co-worker who loves rabbits) and Eric Edelstein as Chris’ best friend. It’s set on an island and anything can happen. But then as it turned out none of the dialogue is specially bone tickling. The unfolding of events worsens as time goes. And there’s an absolute silly plot element that turns everyone into horny primitive cavemen.

The Muscles from Brussels besides getting the necessary exposure and money has very little to do with the movie in actual fact. Either director Rob Meltzer or first time screenwriter Jeff Kauffman thinks it’s funny for Storm to be mauled by a tiger and disappear from the screen for prolonged amount of time. 

You should really unleash your inner beast and thrashed this unfunny flick. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The visual presentation is sharp and detailed while the outburst of explosions and ambient effects are pretty well done. 

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee