Welcome To The Jungle

As a movie reviewer, i know that many critics hate Jean-Claude Van Damme. Is it because his choice of movies ? Probably, but let me explain something. When you see Jean-Claude on a big screen or on dvd, you want him to be the way he is. Pure action, no drama, and dialogue that anyone can remember. But something happened in 2008, with the release of his motion picture JCVD. He was praised by critics, some were even saying he should win an Academy Award, and i was so happy that Van Damme got attention. Because he is not a bad actor, he have become better over the years and he tried to do different kind of stories. Considering he have gone a long way, from classics like Bloodsport and Kickboxer, to more deeper stories, i did not expect to see Jean-Claude do a comedy. This is not the first time an action star does this, we all know Schwarznegger tried this, and Stallone among others. Welcome To The Jungle is a comedy, said to be a mix of classic motion picture Lord Of The Flies and tv series The Office. With this crazy combination with a action legend on board, is this a positive turn for Van Damme´s career, or is this a completely wrong turn straight to hell ?

Chris ( Adam Brody ) is a hard worker, coming up with ideas for product sales. He have just found the perfect design for a new look for toilet paper. Chris finds out that an interested investor is coming to take a look on new ideas to the office. But co worker Phil ( Rob Phuebel ) steals Chris idea, as he presents the new look at a meeting. Phil is praised for this new look, as Chris is left empty with no one who cares if this is his idea. Chris work friend Jared ( Eric Edelstein ) try to support him, with no big difference. One day the company boss Mr. Crawford ( Dennis Haysbert ) gather everyone to a conference room. He have arranged a trip for 2 days, for everyone at the office to learn to work better together. The location is in a jungle, and the leader of this is Teamwork Instructor Storm ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ). He will teach every office worker how you work together in the best possible way, especially out in the wilderness. As the team begin to work together in different situations, something is about to go terribly wrong.

As i said earlier, i did not expect to see Van Damme in a comedy. So how is he in his debut for this genre ? Actually, very funny. Not hysterical, but i did laugh many times. He simply jokes about his typcial image, as the toughest bad ass ever. And together with Adam Brody among others, Welcome To The Jungle succeeds to take this mixture of different ingredients, without becoming over the top. If there is a problem, i guess it would be that the story is way too simple. But on the other hand, director Mark Sheppard manage to give us a comedy that take teamwork on a whole different level, than what we are used to see. Welcome To The Jungle is not for everyone, i realise that. Some people might find this silly, but trust me Kärlek Deluxe is much more silly than this. Too bad Van Damme is not on screen in the whole movie, i actually think i would have enjoyed this one even more if he did. But still this is a good time, guaranteed to work with some beer and snacks. By the way, there is one scene all boys will love, i wont say what happends, but guys might say this is better than Christmas Eve.

Rating: DDD