Directed by: Jeff Wadlow
Starring: Lucy Hale, Michael Pena, Jimmy O. Yang, Michael Rooker, Austin Stowell, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday, Ryan Hansen, Parisa Fitz-Hunley
My expectations weren't high for Fantasy Island going in. I had seen the trailer, and aside from the momentary curiosity of seeing a famous late 1970s TV show turned into a horror film, Fantasy Island had the look and feel of a dud. Fortunately, my job is to actually see the movies to review them, and Fantasy Island wasn't half-bad. The premise is mined for some intriguing possibilities, and while the movie eventually succumbs under the weight of explaining how an island has the power to grant you a fantasy, most of it is schlocky fun.
Most of the target audience of Fantasy Island might not have any idea that it is based it on a forty-plus year old television show. I admit I never saw an episode, but the white-suited Mr. Roark (played by the ever-debonair Ricardo Montalban) and his diminutive white-clad sidekick Tattoo (Herve Villechaize) who shouts "De plane, de plane" are part of the 70's cultural lexicon. There is no tattoo in the 2020 film version, although numerous people shout "the plane!"
A group of twenty and thirtysomethings are flown to Fantasy Island, where according to their host Mr. Roark (Pena), each person is allowed one fantasy and the fantasy must be seen through to its inevitable conclusion. This is not meant to be comforting. A twentyish woman named Melanie (Hale) fantasizes about gaining revenge on the girl in high school who tormented her almost daily. Lo and behold, the bully materializes strapped to a chair in preparation for torture. Another woman named Gwen (Maggie Q) fantasizes about having another chance to accept a marriage proposal she turned down five years ago. What do you know? The man she shot down is now in the island restaurant and, to him, it is the night from five years ago.
There are other people with other fantasies, and they all intertwine thanks to the mysterious island which has the power to grant wishes. As one character puts it, "Mr. Roark is the genie and the island is the lamp," We have our share of plot twists and swerves, and Michael Pena, being the great actor he is, gives us at some hidden dimensions to Mr. Roark. The Maggie Q fantasy delivers some poignancy, while the others devolve into killings and shoot-'em-ups. This is all delivered unevenly at times, but at other times Fantasy Island genuinely held my interest...which is far better than I anticipated. I know this is faint praise, but it beats no praise at all.
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