Fantasy Island
Schlocky "Fantasy Island" retread proves to be dumb fun.
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The lame, boss! The lame! Blumhouse’s “Fantasy Island” is dumber than a doornail, but not without its charms. The whole enterprise kinda plays like an extended, rebooted pilot of the late 1970s/early 1980s television series. Only the filmmakers take the show’s template and overlay cinematic/thematic elements from sources such as the Dennis Quaid/Jim Caviezel vehicle “Frequency” and the “Final Destination” franchise atop it.
I have to give “Fantasy Island” this – it’s certainly progressive for something that seems to solely exist to display its diverse cast in various states of undress. There are Hispanic, Asian, black and gay characters. The crux of the film finds its eclectic ensemble coming to the titular island in order to live out their deepest fantasies. There’s the ugly duckling-turned-swan, Melanie (Lucy Hale of “Pretty Little Liars”), who’s seeking revenge against Sonja (Portia Doubleday) for bullying her in high school. There’s Elena (Maggie Q), who regrets turning down the marriage proposal of Rocklin (Robbie Jones) five years earlier and longs to be a mother. There’s Randall (Austin Stowell), a cop who wants to be a hero. Last but certainly not least are Bradley (Ryan Hansen, “Party Down”) and Brax (Jimmy O. Yang, “Silicon Valley”), step brothers who want it all and serve as the flick’s primary comedic relief. Facilitating these fantasies is Mr. Roarke (Michael Peña, surprisingly menacing stepping in for Ricardo Montalbán), the island’s steward who advises that there’s only one wish per person and all wishes must be played out to their natural conclusion.
“Fantasy Island” has been advertised as a horror film … albeit a PG-13 one … but in actuality it’s more of a thriller with fantastical (See what I did there!) elements. Directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow, the picture is sort of all over the place … there are zombies, war sequences and enough cheesecake to elicit memories of “USA Up All Night.”
Wadlow has been a bit of a mixed bag as a filmmaker. In 2005 he made the boarding school slasher flick Cry Wolf (also PG-13 … boo!) co-starring Jon Bon Jovi, current Sam Winchester/future Walker, Texas Ranger Jared Padalecki and Lindy Booth (the cute redhead from the “Dawn of the Dead” remake … now relegated to Hallmark movie hell). He followed this up with 2008’s guilty pleasure banger “Never Back Down,” a “Karate Kid” for the Monster Energy crowd and my first exposure to actor Evan Peters (“American Horror Story,” recent “X-Men” outings). The flick was slick enough that I thought Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet were gonna become Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt respectively … instead they simply remained Sean Faris and Cam Gigandet. A young Amber Heard was also on hand playing a character named Baja Miller, whom my wife and I affectionately call Baja Gordita. In 2013 Wadlow helmed “Kick-Ass 2,” which was a huge step down from its Matthew Vaughn-directed predecessor and yet featured an inspired performance from Jim Carrey. I never did see Wadlow’s next few films – a Kevin James Netflix original called “True Memoirs of an International Assassin” and fellow Blumhouse joint, “Truth or Dare” (also co-starring Hale).
With a reported budget of 7 million USD, the money’s certainly onscreen in “Fantasy Island.” The film looks as if it could cost three to four times as much. Wadlow smartly peppers the picture with crackerjack character actors like Michael Rooker and Kim Coates (“Sons of Anarchy”), who lend the proceedings much-needed gravitas and cheesy humor … and all in a few days of filming no less.
“Fantasy Island” leaves itself wide open for a sequel. If the budget remains low and the box office is big enough there will likely be another installment. I had a good enough time that I’d be open to a return trip to the island. My biggest takeaway however is that more movies need to feature characters feeding hand grenades into pitching machines.