On the back of the DVD box for “The Jungle,” there’s a picture of a hunter draped in camouflage pointing a gun, while a giant monster with devil horns lurks behind him with large teeth, prepared to pounce. Drink the image in as much as possible, because that’s the only glimpse you’ll get of an actual monster in the entire damn movie. Sure you see glowing eyes, and hands, but “The Jungle” lacks an actual point for existing. There are men hunting a monster, but no actual monster.
Larry Black is a big conservationist who travels to the Indonesian jungle with his brother Ben to research the soon to be extinct Javan Leopard. For some reason this is a big event for the man, not just because he loves wild life because an interview with his wife prompts her to be moved to tears. She apparently cries because he spends a lot of his time on his work. That’s important to the movie, how? Who knows? It’s never brought up again. And we never see his wife again. In either case, Larry goes through any lengths to find the Javan Leopard, and is anxious to tag them to help control the wildlife.
But for some reason the locals aren’t welcoming Larry and his group in to the jungle, as soon the expedition transforms in to discoveries of black magic trinkets, and some temples that seem to indicate someone isn’t keen on welcoming them in to their home land. I was never sure why the Indonesian witch doctors wanted Larry and his group gone. Perhaps they mistook them for poachers? Maybe Larry just wouldn’t take a hint and back off? Or maybe they didn’t want the world to see the Javan Leopard to protect them? It’s never really confirmed, we just know that or eighty minutes, you’re going to see nothing. Unless you count a group of men running in to darkness and screaming actual substance in what is supposed to be a horror movie.
There’s never an indication of what the monster is, either, thus much of the characteristics are poorly slapped together. It can climb up trees, it is probably seven feet tall, and it devours human beings. We also learn that someone, somewhere invoked it, so is it just a monster for the sake of being a monster, or is it some protective deity? Regardless, the characters make ridiculous moves through most of the film, running right in to danger, and refusing to listen to their guides, all of whom know the land more than the stupid British explorers. When horror fans bash found footage movies, “The Jungle” is the type of movie they talk about every time. It’s a lot of running in the dark, followed by a cheap jump scare to close out the movie. Just watch “Predator” and be done with it.
At least that has Carl Weathers.