The twist that never was *spoilers*
Did anyone else feel like there was a twist that never came in this film?
Alex had been in Jumanji for many, many years and somehow managed to not lose his 3rd life, despite having to survive alone. Contrast this to the other heroes who all lose most of their lives within a very short time during the film.
Alex claims to have lost 2 of his 3 lives trying to do the transport section. This level appears to come after the Snake challenge which is only survived by the team of heroes because they work together. Alex references this challenge later in the film suggesting he also had to attempt it, but it's not explained how he survived it.
When the team are escaping through the tunnels under the city, they nearly set off several impossible to see traps. Alex helps them through this, knowing each trap perfectly. How could he have ever worked out all these traps without losing a single life?
Just after this scene, the gang have to cross a pit of crocodiles. Alex remarks that getting eaten by then "is a horrible way to die" - but he cant have been eaten by them himself, as we already know how he lost his 2 lives.
Eventually we see Alex die from a single mosquito bite. Are we to believe that he has never been bitten in all the years of being there? The film shows he has candles to keep them away at night, but surely he would have been bitten well before finding Alan's camp and the candles.
My theory is that Alex had actually died 1000's of times. He worked out all the traps and challenges by trail and error, a classic video game mechanic that would have suited the films style well.
My guess is that they were working in a twist where Alex was using a cheat code (another classic videogame trope) to get "unlimited lives" but eventually, due to time or complication, they decided to change the story at the last minute, meaning some clues were left in the final cut.
What do you think?