Based on a true story, Jungle shares the tale of Yossi Ginsberg (Daniel Radcliffe) and his group of friends who set off from the Bolivian city of La Paz seeking an adventure. As they are led into the Amazon by a guide, the trip soon becomes a disaster. Will, all the men on this trip return alive as they try to survive the Jungle?

I must say, right from the very start of this review, that Daniel Radcliffe’s performance was brilliant and outstanding. The actor, who is best known for his work in the Harry Potter series, has always selected interesting films to appear in since his wizard stardom (e.g. Swiss Army Man, where the actor played a dead man for the film’s duration). His performance here, once again, is a massive stand out. Using his acting ability, Daniel’s character is an entirely different person to any role I have seen him in so far. His strong accent and body language alone gives such strong credit towards the film.

Thanks to Screen Australia, the world of the Jungle is most certainly alive. As Yossi tries to survive, he has to deal with all kinds of natural hazards- river rapids, worms, fire ants, animals that roar, monkeys, snakes and the list goes on. The point is, the film looks and sounds fantastic.

While character introductions are somewhat brief, it was enough to gain an idea of our cast (in particular Yossi) before the film goes into motion. As Yossi struggles, is he followed with some of his thoughts through dream sequences, and these were also creative and welcome in the film.

Jungle, as a cinema viewer, has two sides. The 1st half is fun, and it feels like you’re part of the exploring crew. Once the 2nd half of this begins, well let’s just say we are now watching key people trying to survive as the Jungle becomes a rather dark and dramatic. And when I say dramatic, I mean this film managed to get me to look away. Very tense.

Jungle is a film that is worthy of praise for its creativity as it overall succeeds at bringing an incredible story to the big screen. While the film receives many joyful honours from me (mostly due to Daniel Radcliffe’s performance), I do feel the film’s overall runtime could have been shaved off by approx 10-15mins max (a couple of scenes do drag ever so slightly). Fellow supporting actors interrupted key moments in selected locations, and the cast do not always act on a level that is consistent with each other.

7.7/10

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Review Written by Peter Walkden