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Fantasy Island







STORY: When a mysterious resort in Hawaii floats out an invite to host guests with the promise that the stake holders will fulfil their wishes – a group of Americans quickly fill in the form and jump on the next jet plane for a weekend that would end up changing their lives.

REVIEW: Hailing from different walks of life and with a very diverse set of desires waiting to be fulfilled, a bunch of hopefuls – Gwen (Maggie Q), Melanie (Lucy Hale), Sonja (Portia Doubleday), Bradley (Ryan Hansen), Brax (Jimmy O. Yang) and Patrick (Austin Stowell) – embark on a journey to pay a visit to the resort that promises to grant one’s deepest fantasy under the watch of its suspicious character of a manager – Roarke (Michael Peña). But, the catch is that each person gets to realise only one dream and there is no stopping the cycle until ‘that fantasy reaches its conclusion’.

The concept of a modern-day genie seated in a posh resort, willing to reduce the burden of your regrets, sounds more than appealing in theory and the first 15 minutes do seem like ‘Fantasy Island’ has all the makings of a promising thriller/horror/adventure movie. But, in reality, that initial curiosity (conjured up by some witty writing) fizzles out soon after and is swiftly replaced by perplexity and a sense of directionlessness – who is in who’s fantasy and why, among other questions, start to crop up.

Producer-director Jeff Wadlow has tried to intertwine the life stories and dreams and desires of all his characters, but the transition is craggy, which makes room for discrepancies that are glaring and often leaves one in a state of utter confusion; defies logic even by fantasy standards. The plotline starts off as a horror mystery, navigates through the lanes of thriller, brushes its arms against fantasy, and winds up being an insipid mish-mash of all the three aforementioned themes.

Ryan Hansen and Jimmy O. Yang as biracial half-brothers are hilarious and their bromance on screen seems real and is quite frankly the highlight of this otherwise lacklustre film. Lucy Hale, as the bullied kid with newfound (unabashed) confidence, looks glamorous but fails to come across as a tormented soul stuck in high school. Likewise, Maggie Q, Portia Doubleday, Michael Peña and Austin Stowell do their bit well but all thanks to a half-baked script, coupled with weak direction and some feeble background score – ‘Fantasy Island’ is beyond saving.

‘Fantasy Island’ did have an optimistic tale to tell, but it ends up being a shoddy affair.
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