Taking a classic source material that's become iconic in pop culture and re-imagining it for today's audiences, can be both a challenging and risky task. The filmmakers not only have to reintroduce the concept for a new generation, but do so in a way that remains faithful to the past. With Fantasy Island, the hit studio Blumhouse who brought audiences 2017's smash hit Get Out and 2018's highly successful Halloween sequel/reboot, try their hand at reviving a popular 1977 television show of the same name which aired on ABC. Whereas the original show was designed as being an adventure/drama, the film adaptation gives the concept a horror style makeover that maintains virtually the same plot but delivers a more intense experience for audiences, while utilizing key elements from the original show. Despite receiving a critical drubbing, the film proved itself to be a box office success generating $47 million on a budget of only $7 million. Although it exceeded expectations financially, the same unfortunately can't be said about the film itself with the end result leaving much to be desired in regards to being both a strong and effective reboot of the classic show. Fantasy Island is a film that has the right talent behind it with Blumhouse backing it, but the overall execution ranks as being one of their weakest and most disappointing efforts yet. Fantasy Island is a film that carries with it the ideal concept for a horror movie, but the creativity of it's plot doesn't match the effort that's ultimately put on the screen with the movie as a whole coming across as feeling extremely messy as well as lacking genuine creativity.
Set as a prequel to the classic adventure TV show while adding its own dark twist to it, the updated horror version focuses on the mission of the owner of a remote tropical vacation island (Played by Michael Pena in a surprisingly fun performance) in making all of the dreams of his guests come true in an effort to keep his resurrected wife back from the dead. However, when their dreams begin to turn into terrifying nightmares, the guests are ultimately left with no choice but to figure out how to save their own lives. The plot for Fantasy Island sounds ideal for being transformed into an effective horror flick that not only would be exciting for audiences to watch, but ultimately terrifying. The plot for the newer version of the story comes across as being a mixture of Total Recall meets Westworld combined with a dose of Cabin In The Woods. It's not a question of whether the story was designed to work as a horror film as all the right elements were there to make it work effectively as being such. The films biggest problem which ultimately becomes its downfall, is its severe lack of steady direction and consistent scriptwriting with the film often feeling like it isn't exactly sure on whether it wants to be a supernatural thriller or a slick horror flick. Fantasy Island is a film that carries with it interesting ideas and concepts to make for a solid horror flick, but its overall look and style feels both uneven and misguided for being an intended horror story which in itself is a shame because this had potential to be very well-executed if it was placed in the hands of better filmmakers.
As disappointing as the execution of the story comes across, the films main ensemble cast attempt to make the most of their roles despite many of their characters often feeling both generic and one-note. The films strongest performances come from Michael Pena as Mr. Roarke, the enigmatic keeper of Fantasy Island despite his accent coming across as being rather silly at times. Despite that minor fault with Pena's performance, he's genuinely entertaining to watch and makes the most of his part as a misleading salesman. The same can also be said for Maggie Q in a surprising yet impressive turn as Gwen Olsen, a businesswoman who visits the island and discovers her fantasy of accepting a marriage proposal she rejected prior. Q brings all the right emotions to her part and succeeds for the most part in making her character appear sympathetic. Lucy Hale and Portia Doubleday both deliver solid performances with Hale playing Melanie Cole, a disturbed girl who visits the island with the fantasy of exacting revenge on a childhood bully. While Hale delivers a solid performance, it's Portia Doubleday who gives the stronger performance as Melanie's childhood bully Sloane, who ends up being kidnapped and sent to the island to perform in Melanie's fantasy. Although Michael Rooker's role is minimal, he still manages to make his presence effective as Damon, a private investigator whose sent to investigate the true intentions behind Fantasy Island. Other notable supporting roles include Austin Stowell as Patrick Sullivan, a former police officer who visits the island to realize his fantasy of enlisting in battle to honor his father, Ryan Hansen as J.D Weaver who visits the island to realize his fantasy of wanting to have it all. Jimmy O. Yang steals the show as Dj's gay brother Brax, who visits the island with the same fantasy as his brother to have it all. The rest of the supporting cast manages to deliver minimal yet effective performances with Parisa Fitz-Henley as Roarke's deceased wife Julia Roarke, Mike Vogel as Patrick's deceased father Lieutenant Sullivan, and Evan Evagora as Melanie's crush Nick Taylor who died in a fire involving the other guests on the island. Overall, the cast for Fantasy Island deliver performances that serve as being both believable and convincing with them attempting to elevate the film to being mildly entertaining despite the messiness of the films tone. Although the film as a whole underperformed, the cast stands firmly as being one of the few bright spots that manages to work fairly well with Michael Pena leading the pack with his strange yet charismatic performance.
As reasonably decent as the acting performances from the main cast turn out to be, the films directing is ultimately where things begin to fall apart regarding the movie underwhelming as a horror film despite carrying strong cinematography. The films directing by Jeff Wadlow feels unbalanced as well as uninspired in its ambition to deliver both a suspenseful and terrifying experience for audiences. The film often feels like its stuck between wanting to be a supernatural thriller and a full-blooded horror film with it ultimately ending up being confusing in regards to its tone. While the tropical setting of the mysterious island is beautifully shot with the films cinematography, it also lacks the dark corridors and tense atmosphere that generally accompanies the look of a horror film. Wadlow attempts to pivot from this glaring flaw with the film by adding some interesting visuals such as the eyes of the characters when killed off or resurrected, giving the film a supernatural style feel with the audience seeing their eyes go black. He also attempts to give the film a Cabin In The Woods style vibe by adding scantily clad women in their underwear partying on the beach in a desperate attempt to assure viewers that what they're watching is indeed a horror film despite little evidence of it actually being so on screen. The pacing keeps the story moving at a brisk pace, but audiences will find themselves taking issue with the lack of a proper build up of suspense and tension. The films scare moments are few and far between with them ultimately coming across as feeling cheap and lacking in terms of creativity. As far as directing goes, Fantasy Island manages to effectively nail the look of the island but collapses when it comes to building up the films creepy atmosphere and mood. The main issue with Wadlow's directing is despite the film being well-shot in terms of the islands locations appearing exotic, his effort lacks both a clear and creative drive in terms of execution with the jump scares lacking any real thought being put into making them work. Given that the movies main concept deals with both imagination and fantasy, there appears to be surprisingly little of it on display in terms of adding freshness to the material. When looking at the type of horror film that Fantasy Island could've been, it's really disappointing to see how little effort was thrown at the screen with the end result feeling more like a forgettable B movie than a frightening and twisted horror story.
In addition to the films directing feeling lackluster, the screenplay also written by Wadlow with Chris Roach and Jillian Jacobs ends up being messy as it struggles to balance out the multiple subplots of all the main characters, along with giving backstories to their separate fantasies. The script sets up characters that all carry distinct personalities in making each different person stand out with the screentime that's given to them. What the script does well despite often feeling as if it crams all their different storylines together, is making the motives understandable as well as sympathetic in regards to them wanting to live out their fantasies. Examples of such are Melanie wanting revenge on her childhood High School bully who traumatized her, or the subplots involving Gwen wanting to fix her biggest regret of turning down the proposal her boyfriend delivered, or Patrick Sullivan's character wanting to fantasize about being in combat to follow in his dad's footsteps. As fairly well-developed and fleshed out as those character subplots come across, there's others that carried potential but ended up being poorly fleshed out such as the backstory involving Michael Rooker's character. His character arc carried tremendous potential in regards to giving audiences more insight regarding the corruption on the island with the missed opportunity of a flashback to his character being poorly handled throughout the course of the story. The subplots involving both Ryan Hansen and Jimmy O. Yang's characters also make them feel like the typical stereotypical goofy characters, that can often be found in a horrible movie. The script admirably attempts to flesh out and develop all of these characters, but constantly forgets to build up the suspense of the story in between. The motive of Michael Pena's character behind wanting those invited to the island to live out their fantasies is presented in a way that's believable, but ultimately isn't fleshed out well enough for the audience to truly care. Despite the efforts of the script to produce characters whom the audience can become invested in as well as want to see survive their ordeal on the island, the characters simply come across as feeling convenient for the plot rather than carrying personalities of their own. They often feel like cardboard cutouts of characters from other movies along with being given dialogue that falls into the category of being more cringe-worthy and cliched rather than believable (The Weaver brothers are a prime example). The script also attempts to deliver twists and turns to keep the audience guessing on what's actually going on with the films third act throwing out an interesting plot twist regarding the identity of the films main antagonist. Such a reveal would be believable if it didn't feel like it totally came out of left field. The films overall message of living ones life free of regrets however, is driven home through the themes explored in the script regarding relationships, family, loss, death, regret, feeling guilt, living in the past, making amends, sacrifice, letting go, and changing the past. While the stories themes and concepts are well-introduced, the script doesn't properly explore them which ultimately makes the end result feel messy rather than having a focused story-structure and narrative.
For a film that desires to be an effective horror movie, Fantasy Island lacks nearly every essential ingredient needed to work in that regard as it lacks genuine suspense, thrills, creativity, and scares to make it truly effective and memorable. Outside of the interesting plot, the only two things which manage to work in the movies favor are the performances of the main cast and its cinematography despite the films supernatural thriller and horror style being all over the place. The messy tone often gives audiences the impression that they're watching two different films with one side desiring to be supernatural-themed while the other wants to be seen as a horror film, particularly the films third act involving dead characters being resurrected and fighting our main characters in dark caves. While the performances rank as being decent, they aren't enough to shake off the generic tropes that accompany the characters each actor/actress plays. The film lacks a legitimate feeling of uncertainty and danger that its plot should carry with the main characters not knowing what to expect on the island, though slowly feeling the sinking realization that something sinister is lurking in the shadows. Fantasy Island wants to be a slick horror movie but its multiple character arcs and old-fashioned melodrama make it feel like a soap opera meshed together with elements of a thriller along with a few sprinkles of the horror genre being included such as the resurrecting of dead characters and their eyes turning black after being killed in a weird supernatural twist. Overall, the re-imagining of Fantasy Island lacks the freshness, the brains, and the spirit of its original show to make it work effectively as a reboot. The film feels like reheated leftovers being microwaved on high in hope that the original taste that made it so delicious in the first place can be recaptured again. Sadly that isn't the case here as Fantasy Island carried promise to make for both a solid and creative reboot with it ultimately serving as being a poor attempt to reboot a classic brand, that could've worked as being an effective horror movie had it been handled better by stronger filmmakers. Given that Blumhouse has repeatedly shown audiences that they're more than capable of bringing solid horror films to the big screen, their unfortunate misfire here is hugely disappointing. Of all the interesting fantasies that the film explores, it leaves audiences cold with its most intriguing one that makes them wonder what this film would've looked like had different filmmakers helmed it. Fans of the classic 1977 show would be wise to avoid the poor re-imagining and instead reminisce on the shows greatness by revisiting it as it's bound to be far more satisfying than watching the half-hearted attempt at a reboot.
Final Verdict: For horror and suspense fans, Blumhouse's Fantasy Island should be avoided and switched with revisiting the classic show that inspired the failed re-imagining.
No comments:
Post a Comment