Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Michael Peña, Lucy Hale, Austin Stowell
Rated PG-13 for violence, terror, drug content, suggestive material and brief strong language
Fantasy Island is a horror film based off the 1977 film series of the same name. The film stars Michael Pena, as Mr. Roarke an owner of a private island who invites 5 strangers to his island. The strangers come to the island on the opportunity with living out their fantasies. But as the group live out their fantasies, they soon realize their dreams soon become a nightmare.
The concept of Fantasy Island is an interesting one as living out your dreams is something we all want to do. As the film has an interesting concept, the film poorly executed and is very boring to watch. The film shows the fantasies of all the strangers, and they all seem uninteresting. One character wants to live out the dream of being in the military, another has the dream of reliving a regret she recently has, another one wants to humiliate her childhood bully, and two brothers just want to party. At some point of viewing each character’s dream, the film just slows down and doesn’t feel like a horror film. To keep the film coherent, the screenplay should have written just one character coming into the island and living out their dream with things turning sideways soon afterwards. Seeing all the characters and their fantasies slows the film down and makes the film boring.
As mentioned before, Michael Pena stars as the film’s main antagonist. As much as I respect Pena’s work, his portrayal of Mr. Roarke feels tiresome. Pena’s role requires him to be a menacing person who is also very mysterious. But with all due respect to Pena, he could not become the mysterious and menacing person the film requires him to be. Pena certainly could have fun with the role, but in the end it feels like Pena is in the film for a paycheck. No emotions are given by Pena, he just plays the character straightforward. And saying this about Pena is a shame as he is capable of giving a great performance when giving the right script.
But the biggest problem of the film is the screenplay that is lazily written. The first two acts are the characters living out their fantasies, but its all boring, as mentioned before. But in the third act is where things finally pick up. The group has to work together to get off the island. But there is a twist that is delivered that is sloppy written. The film tries to explain the twist by having a character say, “I was just acting”, which makes no sense at all. Having a twist like this only makes the film end on a sour note, considering the final act actually began to show some promise for the film. To add to the screenplay, its unfunny, dull, and too long. The entire screenplay should have been scrapped in favor for a gripping story.
Overall, Fantasy Island is a bland film that actually has an creative concept that is quickly wasted. When the film actually started to show some potential, a poorly executed twist ruins the film. The unfunny moments, dull characters, and non-scary moments make Fantasy Island a forgetful film.
1.5/4
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