Some would argue that Jean-Claude Van Damme has been doing comedy his entire career — he just didn’t realize it. Whichever side of the argument you fall, there’s no denying Welcome to the Jungle is Van Damme’s first intentional comedy — not a bad step toward a redemption/comeback that started with 2008’s self-aware JCVD and enlisting in 2012’s The Expendables 2.
So what if his role is really just an extended cameo? In being open to poking fun at himself, he’s genuinely enjoyable as Storm Rothschild, a past attendee of web-design classes at DeVry University and current he-man leader of team-building corporate retreats. Storm’s latest clients are the dysfunctional denizens of an advertising agency where young pup Chris (Adam Brody, Scream 4) is constantly bullied — not to mention having his good ideas stolen — by douche-tastic senior VP Phil (Rob Huebel, Hell Baby).
Storm flies the gang via rickety aircraft to a jungle island, where they are stranded when the old coot of a pilot croaks. Phil is so power-mad that he practically wills a Lord of the Flies scenario into existence, while Chris tries to overcome his wimpy rep and keep the peace among his co-workers, particularly his über-luminous office crush (Megan Boone, TV’s The Blacklist).
A mix of tribal trouble and the more relatable office politics, Welcome to the Jungle never quite finds a stride with which director Rob Meltzer is comfortable. Laughs are present, albeit all front-loaded and operating only as internal chuckles. I suspect few were in freshman Jeff Kauffmann’s script, since so many land by Huebel’s sheer force of delivery alone. (If you dislike his Human Giant style of comedy, don’t even bother.) The large cast, which underuses Kristen Schaal (TV’s Flight of the Conchords), is nonetheless incredibly game and genial, making the mild disappointment at least pleasingly painless. Plus, there’s a tiger. —Rod Lott