BY THOMAS WOOD

In the later months of 1999, Disney produced a Disney Channel original film by the name of Horse Sense. It was received with complicated reviews, many viewers merely thinking it was a decent movie. Disney “capitalized” on this reception by making a sequel two years later. This movie, titled Jumping Ship, featured the same characters from the first movie in a brand new setting. Let’s see if it’s any good.

The movie begins with Michael, one of the protagonists of the first film, having somewhat reverted to his personality in the first movie—Horse Sense. He feels entitled to an upper position at his father’s workplace, being utterly blind to the unfairness of nepotism. And since he overdrafted on his summer trip to Australia, he has to find a way to pay off the unpaid end of the tab. At Tommy’s end of the story, his mom found a new boyfriend which is causing him lots of stress. Michael invited him along to Australia. When they both get there, they find that the cruise ship they rented is an old rusty fishing boat. Chaos involving pirates ensues, and the two brothers end up stranded on an island with no way out. 

As was the case in the first movie, the plot takes way too long to actually start. You sit there watching the characters interact for forty minutes before the plot actually starts. The only good part about the start of the movie is that the captain Jake is introduced, and he’s a character I like way more than Michael or Tommy. Otherwise, the start is boring and takes forever.

The acting, on the other hand, improved since the first movie. You can tell that a lot of the actors have developed, and it’s especially prevalent in Tommy’s acting. Jake’s acting is really good as well, and it makes you actually like him from the get-go instead of it taking more than an hour.

At the end of the day, the movie just kind of feels like Jake’s story accompanied by an annoying Michael and Tommy b-plot. It’s a fine movie, and I had an alright time watching it, but it’s by no means a movie I would rewatch in my free time.

Overall: 4/10