Following the success of A Quiet Place Parts I and II, Emily Blunt has been exquisitely set up to become Junge Cruise’s lead action heroine. A Quiet Place and its sequel, directed by Blunt’s husband John Krasinski, are a horror series that document a family living in a post-apocalyptic America, surviving sound-sensitive monsters by their prior knowledge of sign language. Emily Blunt plays the matriarch, Evelyn Abbott, in the film series, having to protect her three children while physically battling the monsters.
Blunt’s newest project is Jungle Cruise, an adaptation of the Disney theme park ride of the same name. The action-adventure fantasy movie has hints of The Mummy, Indiana Jones, and Pirates of the Caribbean, putting Emily Blunt and The Rock at the forefront of Disney’s new exciting international adventure. Blunt portrays Dr. Lily Houghton in Jungle Cruise, a British scientist who recruits Skipper to guide herself and her brother on a harrowing journey down the Amazon. They search for the mystical Tree of Life, rumored to possess healing powers that could greatly advance modern medicine, all the while being chased by dangers of the jungle and German foes.
Considering one might think of Julie Andrews gearing up to physically battle Germans in the Amazon’s jungle as far-fetched, fans who know Emily Blunt as portraying Mary Poppins in the sequel, Mary Poppins Returns, may not understand the path from one role to the next. The key point in between such roles is Evelyn in A Quiet Place (2018) and A Quiet Place Part II (2021), which feature mature horror themes, heavy action sequences, and quick, life-or-death decision making. Jungle Cruise entails a treacherous adventure that involves physically intensive action and fighting sequences, skill with machinery, and death-defying scenarios, all of which Blunt has already proved her credibility in portraying.
Another way A Quiet Place introduces Emily Blunt as an exciting action heroine is the timing of Jungle Cruise being released only two months after A Quiet Place Part II. The dangers Blunt will face from creatures and enemies in the jungle are fresh off the heels of the terrifying chasing, explosions, and escapes from the monsters she opposed in A Quiet Place. Similarly, A Quiet Place II puts more pressure on her character than it did in the first installation since now she is left alone to raise her three children in an apocalypse. Had Jungle Cruise been released right after the first A Quiet Place Part 1 or especially Mary Poppins Returns, the credibility of Emily Blunt as a Marion Ravenwood, Elizabeth Swann, Evelyn Carnahan-Esque heroine may not have landed in the same way.
While her taxing role in A Quiet Place geared her up for the action scenes of Jungle Cruise, the comedic timing, stubbornness, and charisma that her character emanates have already been seen in her celebrated roles of Mary Poppins and Emily in The Devil Wears Prada. With Emily Blunt’s extensive filmography in action, fantasy, and thriller movies, she’s been given all the tools she needs to lead a new Disney adventure franchise and hold her own against the action/adventure leading man, The Rock, in Jungle Cruise.
