The New “Fantasy Island" Is a Terrible Horror

The plot of the film shows a group of tourists who come to a beautiful tropical island. They are pleased to receive an anonymous invitation to an expensive resort. This place has a host, and he claims that each of the new arrivals has one cherished desire that can become a reality within the island. Not everyone believes in it, but when everyone's fantasies come true, it becomes clear that they have to pay for every minute of joy.

The 2020 film is not the first remake of an island story. The series, released in 1998, also became the re-launch of the multi-part science-fiction drama from the 1970s. The reason why screenwriters decided to return to the same idea is quite understandable – the idea of a mysterious secluded place that makes the wishes of visitors come true can turn into a successful horror or comedy if the project falls into the hands of a smart filmmaker.

Jeff Wadlow, a director who still hasn't been able to produce fascinating or at least partially meaningful stories, is responsible for creating the new film (he shot such movies as Kick-Ass 2 and Truth or Dare). Under his leadership, the usual non-dramatic scenario turns into a poorly worked out bunch of events, which is aggravated by bad dialogs and the absence of charismatic characters. The movie's average rating is 3.08/10.

The plot of the Fantasy Island is quite good itself – it promises a relaxing and entertaining movie that is not supposed to leave behind a heavy burden of philosophical reflection. In the case of Jeff Wadlow’s work, everything turns out a little differently. The film does not become an exciting adventure, but rather an annoying two-hour waste of time.

It is possible that the PG-13 rating, which cut off any bloody or cruel scenes, could affect the atmosphere of the film. This decision of Blumhouse Productions, a company that released Fantasy Island, was made with the hope of gathering as many viewers of different ages as possible.

As for the cast, you may notice several familiar faces in the movie. For example, actor Michael Peña (Ant-Man, Dora and the Lost City of Gold) and actress Portia Doubleday (Mr. Robot). Along with other actors, they have no chance to be taken seriously – the awkward transitions between the storylines and the extremely unsuccessful dialogues are to blame.

Something has still worked out in the Fantasy Island. Scriptwriters break the picture into several storylines, highlighting a story of each character. However, then they rush to surprise with the result, for the sake of which they sacrifice logic and common sense. The effect should be "you didn't expect it," but the result is "yes, we didn't expect anything except the credits."