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Movie Reviews
Fantasy Island
(PG-13 / 110 mins / Columbia Pictures)

Overview: In Blumhouses new spin on Fantasy Island, the enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort.

But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the islands mystery in order to escape with their lives.

Verdict: Based on the 1970s television show, Blumhouses Fantasy Island follows several characters as they arrive at the title locale for several days of literal wish-fulfillment fantasy with the island, lorded over by Michael Penas Mr. Roarke, possessing magical properties that inevitably wind up twisting the heroes desires to an often deadly extent.

It is an off-the-wall yet nifty premise that is, at the outset, employed to fairly promising effect by Jeff Wadlow, as the filmmaker does a decent job of establishing the pictures decidedly mysterious atmosphere and the various characters that inhabit its picturesque landscape with, in terms of the latter, Pena delivering a solid turn as the enigmatic Mr. Roarke.

It is equally clear, however, that Blumhouses Fantasy Island does not exactly possess a whole lot in the way of forward momentum, with the somewhat arms-length vibe compounded by a proliferation of perilous events and encounters that may or may not be actually happening (ie: what are the stakes here, exactly?)

The initial emphasis on individual storylines certainly highlights the hit-and-miss nature of Jillian Jacobs, Christopher Roach, and Wadlows screenplay, and although the various subplots eventually do converge, Blumhouses Fantasy Island has been saddled with an exceedingly tedious third act that seems to transpire entirely within a dimly-lot cave; which ensures the whole thing peters out to a rather demonstrable degree and cements its place as a periodically watchable yet mostly inert adaptation.





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