Jean-Claude Van Damme

Adam Brody

Rob Huebel

Kristen Schaal

Megan Boone

Bianca Bree

Aaron Takahashi

Robert Peters

Eric Edelstein

Dennis Haysbert

Brian Tester

Juan C. Defendini

Zev Glassenberg

Tommy Kavelin

Michael J. Morris

Teeadora Paz

Mark Sherman

Kris Van Damme

Rob Meltzer

Jeff Kauffmann

Tere López

Rian Johnson

Diana Noris

Bill Westenhofer

Robert Colón

Karl Preusser

Harry Yoon

Erin Toner

Leslie Keel

Mailara Santana

Ana C. Ramirez Velez

Eric Haase

Annabelle Mullen

Ybelka Hurtado

Comedy

Welcome to the Jungle

Private Island Trax

The Salt Company International

Pimienta

120dB Films

Stun Creative

United Kingdom

United States of America

Puerto Rico

_**Amusing castaways-on-remote-island flick ruined by too much foul non-humor**_

The office team at a label design agency is sent on a retreat to a remote tropical island in order to build character and learn teamwork. When the ex-military motivational leader (Jean-Claude Van Damme) goes missing the urbanites find themselves reverting to a “Lord of the Flies” situation. Adam Brody, Eric Edelstein, Megan Boone and Kristen Schaal play the protagonists while Rob Huebel appears as the antagonist.  

The tone of “Welcome to the Jungle” (2013) is similar to “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” (2005), just transferred to the jungle with Edelstein obviously standing in for Seth Rogen. I was mainly interested because I favor stuck-on-deserted-island stories (e.g. Gilligan’s Island and “Six Days Seven Nights”) and the trailer looked fun, especially Van Damme effectively spoofing himself. 

While the movie is entertaining to a point, like the joke about Pinocchio, there’s too much vulgar non-humor for my tastes. For instance, there’s a “joke” where Schaal’s character, initially opposed to needless cussing, talks about going number 2 in terms of “taking a s***” in the jungle for like 2 full minutes. I hate to break it to the lazy scriptwriters, but cussing itself isn’t funny unless it’s used (1) in an amusing context and (2) sparingly. Otherwise it smacks of lack of imagination, juvenility and desperation. It’s more eye-rolling than anything else and I was seriously tempted to turn the movie off 35 minutes into it.

Van Damme’s daughter, Bianca Brigitte Van Damme, appears in a peripheral role as Ashley.    

The film runs 1 hour, 35 minutes, and was shot in Puerto Rico. 

GRADE: C/C-

English

Official Trailer