Fantasy Island (2020)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Contest winners Gwen (Maggie Q), Melanie (Lucy Hale), Patrick (Austin Stowell), J.D. (Ryan Hansen), and his step brother, Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) journey to Fantasy Island, an island with mysterious powers capable of turning guest’s fantasies into reality. Mr. Roarke (Michael Pena), the host and the island’s ambassador, lays out two strict rules: only one fantasy per guest is allowed, and each guest must see their fantasy through to its natural conclusion, no matter what. 

The island is a seemingly fun getaway for the guests, but things take a bizarre turn, when Melanie encounters her kidnapped childhood bully, Sloane (Portia Doubleday). Melanie teams up with Sloane, and a private investigator named Damon (Michael Rooker) to escape the island. Damon reveals the secrets behind the island’s dark powers, leading to a startling revelation about Roarke’s motivations and his top assistant, Julia (Parisa Fitz-Henley). 

My Thoughts- The performances were really hit and miss for me. Ryan Hansen and Jimmy O. Yang’s routine as obnoxious dude-bros was okay for a few cheap laughs. Maggie Q and Austin Stowell carry a lot of the emotional weight with their performances. Gwen and Patrick are haunted by missed opportunities from their pasts and heartbreaking tragedies, so you can easily understand why it’s not so easy for them to move on. 

Lucy Hale plays a confident Melanie, who just wants to have a good time on the island. Melanie realizes she made a mistake seeking vengeance on Sloane, but it’s all a ruse (more on that later), and Hale did a good job of believably showing Melanie’s twisted side, when she reveals her true intentions.

Michael Rooker adds to the pulse of the cast, with his grizzled and rugged performance as the cagey private investigator. Mr. Roarke? It’s a strange case, because I just didn’t get anything out of Michael Pena’s performance. Roarke is supposed to be a mysterious, important, and powerful man. But Pena weirdly sounds like a guy just plainly reading lines off of a script throughout the movie. A noticeable lack of energy, so I couldn’t buy into the obvious enigmatic presence they were going for with Roarke.

Overkill is always a problem. It’s a bigger problem, when you’re constantly beating a dead horse for something that’s just not working. Dr. Torture is the evil physical manifestation of Melanie’s hated psychiatrist, complete with lips that are stapled shut. He’s supposed to be the unstoppable monster, who tortures and hunts Sloane. Dr. Torture should be scary, a frightening menace. Overall, he’s a character who’s just too goofy, with the muffled grunting behind the face mask, and the sleeveless scrubs to show off his muscles. 

The sight of Nick’s (Evan Evagora) burnt corpse could’ve been shocking, IF they limited his appearances. I get it. Everyone is haunted by Nick’s tragic death, especially Gwen. But seeing a lifeless and charred Nick over and over again killed any chances for a strong reaction. 

The zombies oozing black goo from their eyes is a sign the guest’s fantasies are making a disturbing transition from dreams to a living nightmare. The zombies are supposed to be an unstoppable threat, but the running mascara look is too silly.

As far as spooky stuff goes, Sloane has a creepy doppelgänger. It’s a simple idea. Sloane having to face herself, including all the bad mean girl parts of her past, shows Sloane actually had remorse, and she wanted to make a serious effort to change. 

Fantasy Island has all the right ingredients, but it’s also a film that tries way too hard to do too much. Gwen regrets rejecting Allen’s (Robbie Jones) marriage proposal, and she’s directly responsible for the fire that killed Nick. Patrick has a deep wound for growing up without his father, Lieutenant Sullivan (Mike Vogel), who sacrificed himself to save his troops by jumping onto an exploding grenade. 

The drama between Melanie and Sloane, and Sloane cheating on her husband is a storyline that could’ve been its own movie. There’s also the revelation involving Julia. She’s actually Roarke’s wife, weakened by an illness. A living but sickened Julia is Roarke’s fantasy, a fantasy that only remains intact, if Roarke faithfully serves the island. 

You can easily take your pick between Gwen, Roarke, or Patrick, because either one of their stories is strong enough to be the sole focus for the movie. Melanie’s troubles with Sloane and Melanie regretting missing a date with Nick is another worthy candidate. Fantasy Island actually did a decent enough job of connecting the guest’s backstories, including piecing everything together to show how everyone had some kind of involvement with Nick’s death. But it’s also a lot to digest, and it’s kind of hard to do that, when you jump from scene to scene with different characters and stories.

Revealing Melanie as the mastermind, who planned for everyone to arrive at the island is a decent surprise and a swerve. Melanie is holding a grudge against the guests for Nick’s death, and she still wants revenge for Sloane’s bullying. Lucy Hale is definitely convincing as the unhinged and bitter psychopath. While you can understand why Melanie is hurting, it’s obvious she went overboard with her quest for revenge and Nick’s justice. Melanie got what she deserved in the end. 

The big finale is a whirlwind of cluttered events. Roarke actually listening to Julia’s pleas to do the right thing is a big moment. Patrick fighting the evil version of his father, Sloane fighting her doppelgänger, Gwen facing her demons, Brax struggling to accept J.D.’s death, and Melanie’s vengeance? That’s SIX stories all playing out back to back. 

Some breathing room between the different stories would’ve helped, a chance to truly feel the impact of the tough decisions the main characters were forced to make. Instead, they rushed through the finale to tie up all the loose ends in an obvious attempt to avoid any plot holes before the clock ran out. 

Fantasy Island had a lot of potential. There’s some noticeable messages about dealing with regret, moving on after tragedies, and learning to forgive yourself. Patrick’s sacrifice ironically mirrors his father’s sacrifice. Patrick found the courage to save lives, something he didn’t do, when he was a cop, while Nick was trapped in the fire. 

But Fantasy Island lacks excitement and thrills, moving from one scene to the next without any real tension or suspense. It’s a dull film, where the negatives greatly outweigh the positives. They sort of tease a sequel that’ll never happen, when Brax chooses to stay on the island as Roarke’s assistant in exchange for J.D.’s resurrection. Brax chooses the name Tattoo for a connection and a nod to the show, and it’s a nice way of paying tribute to Herve Villechaize. It’s also a tie-in and a joke for Brad’s tattoo, which is literally a tattoo of the word tattoo.

I do wonder if working in the confines of a PG-13 rating hurt Fantasy Island, because for a PG-13 film it’s still too tamed. You don’t need extreme amounts of blood and gore to make a good horror film, but if you’re truly going with a horror approach for a prequel and a Fantasy Island reimagining, maybe a touch of gruesomeness could’ve helped during certain scenes. 

Rating- 3/10