Greg McLean’s Jungle, based on the story of an Israeli man who survived three weeks lost in the Bolivian rainforest, is split into two parts. The first hour is devoted to some white backpackers—Israeli Yossi (played by Daniel Radcliffe—aka Harry Potter—who also co-produced the film), American Kevin (Alex Russell), and Swiss Marcus (Joel Jackson)—entwining their souls in bro-hood, booking a trip into uncharted jungle with a dubious Austrian guide, and increasingly acting like dicks when Marcus starts lagging. In the second part, Yossi is separated from the rest in a rafting accident and spends the film starving, hallucinating, and pulling a SUPER DISGUSTING parasite out of his forehead.
In a just world, this part would be an improvement, because Radcliffe could drop his distracting Israeli accent. But Yossi talks to himself throughout. In English.
The real problem is that the film squanders its greatest source of tension: Thomas Kretschmann as the monkey-eating guide Karl, whose slithery bonhomie makes you wonder whether his possible derangement or the boys’ idiocy will get the backpackers killed first. Jungle emphasizes heroism over evil and incompetence—understandable, as Yossi and Kevin are still around. Less forgivably, indigenous Bolivians are treated as scenery or literal fantasy objects. Embrace of the Serpent this is not.
If you want more information about this movie, which, may we remind you, has a VERY DISGUSTING scene, visit Movie Times.