Jumanji (2017)

A fun kids' action comedy.

Often movies for kids assume their audience wants to see kids on screen. That's r-slurred. A kid doesn't want to see Wesley Crusher save the USS Enterprise. They don't want to identify with that whiny little b-word. They want to see Riker save the USS Enterprise and identify with him.

Jumanji has a cast of kids who get transformed into adults and sent to save a world, the kind of stuff that kids daydream about. The actors are likeable (The Rock, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and some girl). Their characters are written to be likeable. There's conflicts among them but not overly dramatic or like they're buttholes. Occasionally there's even a joke.

It's not a masterpiece but it reminds me of a time when action movies were supposed to be fun and make you leave the theater feeling happy, not bitter and resentful of your fellow man.