Forgotten Island

Just before the press screening of the latest film from Dreamworks animation: Forgotten Island, my youngest daughter who accompanied me to the screening along with my oldest daughter was asking questions about classic stories that have never been remade. I sighted examples like Star Wars and Back to the Future, while my oldest said films like The Matrix  and The Rocketeer. She was trying to get to reasons why these were never remade and how they could be. I never got to the bottom of why she was asking because the movie was about to start, but I told her creators of film, television and books still took pretty liberally from the classics, whether it was a plot of giant Empires that needed to be brought down by rebels or simply using “bullet-time”. This pre-movie conversation ended up being critical in my viewing of Forgotten Island as I watched the film wondering where I had seen this plot before. Then it hit me. Someone just made an animated, kid’s version of 2009’s The Hangover?!

In the Philippines we meet “Jo” (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) as children in school in the 1980’s while waiting to be punished by the principal. They become fast friends as Raissa loves spending time with her new best friend and Jo’s only relative, her Lola (Dolly De Leon) who regales them with stories of the mythical island of Nakali where all manner of creatures live in harmony except for the dreaded Manananggal a winged vampire-like beast with the ability to separate its upper half from its lower and flies around (It’s as creepy as it sounds and when you eventually see it, it’s pretty terrifying).

When the girls reach graduation day in the 90’s after a montage of adventures and little memory trinkets that they add to their shared charm bracelets, it’s time for grown up decisions. Raiaa is pressured by her parents to go to school in America at the prestigious Caltech which she is excited by, yet after the loss of her Lola, Jo has no clear direction in life and has been fired from most of the stores in the mall. But she is still as carefree as ever and is comfortable with her station in life. When she learns of Raissa’s decision to leave they have a fight which ends on a beach where a mysterious sand dollar appears and magically transports them to Nakali. They awake to find that a whole night has passed and they have no memory of what they did. Suddenly between the two of them, they have tattoos and half-shaved heads, a missing shoe, and wings. As they try to piece together what they did where the sand dollar went to, they meet a were-dog named Raww (Dave Franco) who offers to be their guide. The trio meet a slew of interesting characters on their journey for answers and a way home.

Forgotten Island like I said at the top shares many remarkable similarities to The Hangover, the memory loss, tattoos, missing certain body characteristics, characters who they don’t know that remember them from the night before, strange new friends, and unbelievable stories and evidence of doing incredibly dangerous things. Yet, somehow it in no way feels like a rip-off, and either way most of the target audience for this film would not have seen the rated-R 17 year-old raunchy comedy that it shares similarities with. The film has many other influences, specifically anime and an animation style that begin with Into the Spider-Verse. There influences don’t end there, as there is a very Lord of the Rings meets Hellboy vibe throughout the island.

What I found fascinating is the dips into Pilipino culture. It’s not something that is explored in American films, and certainly not in animation. It gives the film a fresh and inviting aspect to it that I really appreciated. Where horror films lean on other cultures boogeyman’s, seeing an animated version is interesting and almost just as scary, especially for a kids film. But think an avid watcher of Minions and Kung-Fu Panda movies would embrace this film, even as some things that are going on may be slightly over their heads. H.E.R and Soberano have incredible chemistry and give very nuanced performances with just their voices, and it seems it have made the animators jobs much easier.

The filmmakers Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado who have been behind such Dreamworks classics as Rise of the Guardians and the simply phenomenal Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, take their usual charm, unique and slightly grown-up perspectives to another lever here.

The relationship with the girls is familiar yet not tired and bored, and has something extremely powerful to say about our friendships and the memories that we all share. It beautifully moving by the end and has some legitimate hilarious moments scattered throughout the film. Some are simple throw-away gags, and some are thought out clever springs of humor. All in all Forgotten Island is one of those rare films that truly is for the entire family. It doesn’t matter if you can relate to the culture that is not yours, we all have friendships and memories we share, and going to see this one with the family & friends will certainly create a new and lasting one.

Robert L. Castillo