Her arc is built around learning to accept that she’s attractive, which plays out literally, as Jack Black’s Bethany teaches her how to flirt and act seductive to distract some bodyguards. Inside the game, however, she comes across as utterly awkward, without the intelligence or agency she demonstrated outside it. In the real world, Martha is a smart teenager who gets in trouble for frankly speaking her mind. There’s also the issue of Gillan’s character. Then, when Johnson downshifts into revealing just how authentically insecure Spencer is, he’s able to pull off some real vulnerability as well. The film is at its very best when it embraces this meta aspect of Johnson’s onscreen persona, and it’s actually impossible to imagine any other modern actor pulling off the role. It’s fodder for plenty of easy jokes - director Jake Kasdan and the four credited writers never seem to tire of having Black’s Bethany marvel at her new genitalia - and while they’re mostly obvious gags, they do give Johnson many opportunities to show off his charisma, with Spencer boasting about it.
Martha has become a butt-kicking Lara Croft rip-off, played by Karen Gillan, and Bethany is a cartographer played by Jack Black. Football star Fridge is now an ineffectual Kevin Hart, whose main abilities are carrying a large backpack and commenting on how short he is. The nerdy Spencer has become the excessively charming Johnson. Each chooses a different gaming avatar before they’re sucked inside, which leads to some amusing fish-out-of-water hijinks right from the start. Welcome to the Jungle’s first big gag is how the four misfits appear in the game.
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