Welcome to the Jungle

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I'm not going to get into any plot or detailed film descriptions in this review (if you can call it that). All I'm am going to write is what I did and did not enjoy about this film. Firstly, the bad parts - the thing that really let's the film down is the writing - basically the majority of the actors just aren't given enough to play with. They all try really hard to get laughs, whether it be by forcing out swear words or resorting to * and boob jokes that come across more than a little forced. The characters for the most part are likable enough but the comedic actors/actresses like Kristen Schaal are not used to their full comedic potential and it is disappointing to say the least. TV actors Adam Brody and Megan boon are good on their roles and do their best at trying to keep the viewer from nodding off into a dull boredom coma. So why give what really is just another average comedy film that would otherwise deserve only a 5 out of ten, a 7? Well, the answer is obvious - Jean-Claude Van Damme! Not only does he save this film from being shelved completely - he manages to make it really enjoyable and worth watching and he really is hilarious! I have always been a massive Van Damme fan ( or "Fan a Damme" as I like to put it) but that being said, I think comedy is really a route he should explore on a more regular basis. Every scene Van Damme appears in - he steals completely and the only laugh-out-loud scenes in the film are they ones with him in them! Clearly he is enjoying himself and it really shows on screen. Whether he is stealing the other actors lines or just making fun of himself - JCVD is the one and only reason you should watch this film and I give the extra 2 stars to this films rating due to his brilliant, comedic performance. Hopefully this film is the comedic stepping-stone Van Damme uses to land a comedy role in a big-budget comedy film and to give him the big mainstream hit he really deserves :) You are and always will be the man, Van Damme!!!

I don't know this Rob Meltzer who directed this movie, but he did make a lousy one, I can tell you that much. I'd hoped Jean Claude would make a decent movie, because there were some decent actors, including Adam Brody, but this was not the case, I guess he accepts every role that is given to him, including this one. Entire movie was predictable to the spot, cliché moments. I didn't like it, I don't like movies that I can predict, but what a hack, I gave it a try to see if something during the movie will get better, was I wrong. I gave it a 3, because Van Dam was in it as Adam Brody. Only because of that

If you're looking for some laughs and to see Jean Claude van Damme being hilariously ridiculous then this movie is good for a watch. Basic premise is Office Space meets Lord of the Flies with JCVD thrown into the mix. JCVD is a welcome addition to the cast, definitely poking a lot of fun at himself in this role. The main actor is almost a carbon copy of the lead from Office Space in terms of his persona and his back-story. The supporting cast are great, especially the "evil" co-worker. Nothing deep or serious here. All in all just a funny romp worth watching.

This is a very bad adaptation of The Lord of the Flies. I don't know if it says somewhere that it's based on the novel by William Golding, but anyone who has read the book or seen the movie can tell is a bad imitation, a joke. Absolutely predictable from beginning to end, and not funny whatsoever, just makes you grin a couple of times at the most. Acting is bad, specially the tribe members, trying to appear as fiercely guys, makes you laugh because it's so bad, not because it's funny. Nice for JCVD for trying something different, but just another failure. If you don't have anything else to watch, take a book and read instead.

For $5 million dollars, whomever produced this movie should have just bought lottery tickets. The chance of winning would be better than this movie having a chance to be enjoyed. I generally would have just turned it off, but being bored already, I figured what the heck. I WASTED VALUABLE TIME FROM MY LIFE. It was so bad that I could tell you how the story ended and you would be better off if you spent the time with your family and maybe find something fun to do with them. There is not one character who is worth saying nice things about. Dennis Haysbert has a couple of lines with minor humor attached, but only because they are so out of character for him. That's the only reason I didn't give this 1 star. I have to believe that once this movie gets around a little, the ratings will drop like the stock market in 2008. Please believe me. It's really not worth even trying to prove or disprove what I am writing here. Even Jean Claude couldn't save it. Btw, he is in amazing shape for any age, but the fact that he is 53 is nuts! OK, that is the other reason I gave it 2 stars! I really wish someone would give me $5M so I could make a movie. I could find 20 people on the street who would have performed better than anyone in this film. Find something else to watch, I beg you. Just my thoughts!

Adam Brody plays a guy who has a very good idea for a design stolen by one of his superiors. President Palmer from 24 sends his team on a team building weekend hosted by Van Damme, Van Damme of all people. After an incident with a tiger, Van Damme goes AWOL, so it's up to Brody to take charge (he was in the scouts), but his superior balks at the idea, and goes all Lord Of The Flies... And that's what the film basically is, Lord Of The Flies on drugs. And don't let the cover fool you, Van Damme is in the film at the beginning for about five minutes, then doesn't really pop up again until right near the end. And he's the best thing about it, he's really good at comedy, and he sends his action persona up a treat. The rest of the film is a gross out Lord of the flies, with bad jokes and poor performances from the supporting cast. Brody is okay, but cannot save the script. Haysbert is in it for less than five minutes, and has the best joke about a sandwich. It's for Van Damme completists only, and he is really good.

I don't understand all the negative reviews out there. This is a miraculous gem of a movie that achieved the near impossible by eliciting at least half a dozen deep belly laughs by being a very low budget movie starring you know who. I haven't enjoyed a comedy this much since Super Bad and Pineapple Express. It's really funny in a way that Office Space is funny, quirky, dry and with characters just exaggerated enough so we don't forget they are true in the banality of our corporate work lives. There is a stoner character that reminds me a lot of Seth Rogan, so yes the film is not perfect, and it probably did exploit Office Space for some of it's humor, so it's not really original, but in the final analysis, if you like Dilbert you will laugh. If you like Van Damme making fun of a ridiculous caricature of himself you will find this film funny.

Welcome to the Jungle is a story that tries to entertain the viewer with some hilarious comedy scenes; especially involving Jean-Claude Van Damme. The interpersonal relationship between the various actors was not interesting, and the simplicity of the shift from rational to "primitive" was hardly aptly presented or explained. Overall the acting was below par, without any attempt at building a serious character (again with JCVD being the exception). The plot is a group are sent on a retreat to learn team skills. After a few incidents, they are trapped on the island. The island splits into two factions and the main character learns how to stand up for himself. The movie plays into typical alpha-male scenarios with little to nothing to offer, and the consistent rape jokes are tasteless, while providing little except to re-enforce the alpha-male stereotype with the subversive male having to defeat him in order to get his "prize". The music and imagery in the movie are well done, and do set the mood for the various scenes, regardless of how the acting was.The simplicity of the plot wouldn't have garnered a watch in most cases, but there are a few scenes with JCVD that are hilarious. If you can watch them separately, skip this movie. Due to the few entertaining scenes and well produced audio/video, I would rate this a 4; otherwise I wouldn't bother even raising it over a 2. There might be some people who like it, but it was not appealing to me.

Well here it is, the long awaited comedy starring both JCVD and his son Kris Van Varenberg, can you feel it?. The plot is all about a group of office workers who are taken on a weekend island survival course to boost their leadership and teamwork skills, a wilderness seminar. The group are lead by a tough military expert in the form of...you guessed it JCVD. Low and behold things go tits up and the group must fend for themselves for real. I kinda got an 'Office Space' vibe from this film within the first 20 minutes or so (that vibe quickly died though), the group of characters that we see are a typical bunch of desk jockeys, suits and the obligatory one or two hot females. Unfortunately we only get to know a few of these characters throughout the film, most are just background fodder and some just pop up outta nowhere as far as I could see. Not good considering its all about a group of people trapped on an island, you'd think we would have to know them all so we could get behind the story, problem is there are too many really, around 20. Straight away the film has gaping plot holes, where exactly in the US do these people live and work?. They hop on this cargo plane and take what seems like a half hour flight and like magic they arrive on some uninhabited tropical island!. Then for some unknown reason the pilot dies? yet this never really causes any concern for anyone accept for the fact they appear to be trapped on the island. On and this island also has wild tigers on it? well one, maybe that was for the comedy element but sheesh come on!. Most of the film is a Lord of the Flies style romp as half the group go crazy on the hallucinogenic drugs that the slimy backstabbing office team leader spikes the coffee with. He then proclaims himself God of the island, the alpha male of his alpha male tribe, and basically eats drinks sleeps and has orgies all night whilst keeping his tribe in order with an iron fist...of comedy...of sorts. The other few office workers led by the weak skinny office nerd, try to find a way off the island and are basically the boyscouts of the story. You can imagine the kind of 'humorous' dialog your gonna find here, lots of primitive sexist, alpha male orgy based quips. Most tiny giggles come from the drugged up tribe but don't get your hopes up for all out hilarity. The entire cast are complete unknowns to me which isn't a bad thing but none of them are particularly interesting to watch, and none of them are exactly funny either. The only guy that has any sort of decent amusing dialog is the 'baddie' leader Rob Huebel, but its sparse. JCVD only proves he is no good in a comedy (plus he's hardly in it), you could say he's mocking himself but really its just poor humour. His son's only stand out moment is getting a boner watching the two male leaders fight half naked. The film is odd really, its advertised as a comedy, not a dark comedy even, just a comedy, and its not really funny. It has its few moments that make you smile but then it swings wildly into a semi serious state that is just dark, kinda confusing. Admittedly the films plot didn't pan out as I expected it too, I kinda thought it would go a certain way with a twist but no! they actually stick to their guns with the original stupid plot route. That's the films only positive note really, you're not entirely sure which route the plot will go and you're never entirely sure if JCVD's character is actually playing it for real. It could all go only two ways, the whole setup is real, or the whole setup is fake, so small kudos there I guess. Other than that the whole film is a bit of a miss frankly, nothing much happens, its not a good comedy and its not even visually enticing I'm afraid. I think the fact that half the group are drugged up all the time takes away the comedy aspect because they are all acting zombified. It turns the film into a slightly more sinister game rather than a dumb cheeky witty comedy which is what they were aiming for. 4.5/10