‘Forgotten Island’ review: Two friends get lost in a world worth remembering
Courtesy of Universal/Dreamworks Animation
DreamWorks Animation has been on a creative roll. “The Wild Robot” found beauty in an unlikely family, while “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” had no business hitting as hard as it did this far into the “Shrek” franchise. Now Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado, the filmmakers behind “The Last Wish,” have returned with “Forgotten Island,” an original adventure bursting with strange creatures, big laughs and Filipino folklore. What makes all that imagination matter is the friendship at its center.
Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) have been inseparable since childhood, growing up on stories of the mythical island of Nakali told by Jo’s grandmother, Lola (Dolly de Leon). Adulthood has arrived with less room for the two of them to move through life side by side. Raissa is headed to Caltech with dreams of working for NASA, while Jo is drifting through a fast food job and struggling to imagine what comes next. Neither seems ready to say what Raissa’s departure might mean for their friendship, so they spend one last night together before somehow passing through a portal to Nakali.
They wake up with no memory of the night before and plenty of evidence that it got out of hand. Half of Raissa’s head has been shaved, she has sprouted wings, and both friends have matching tattoos. There is also Raww (Dave Franco, having a blast), a doglike stranger who claims he spent the evening with them. Their attempt to piece together what happened gives “Forgotten Island” the loose, chaotic energy of “The Hangover” for a younger crowd, with each new encounter raising more questions.
Nakali offers no shortage of distractions. There’s Batiba (Jenny Slate), a demon who eats memories; Bungi (Manny Jacinto), a giant baby whose cries can turn deadly; Datu (Jo Koy), the leader of the tree giants; and King Truffle Wuffle (Ronny Chieng), whose adorable appearance should never, under any circumstances, be acknowledged as adorable (Jo learns that rule too late). Prince Mermahn (a game Kevin McCann), meanwhile, has singing starfish covering his nipples. Looming over the adventure is Manang (Lea Salonga), a villain who can split her body in two and is genuinely frightening by PG movie villain standards.
The constant introductions are both the film’s pleasure and its weakness. Crawford and Mercado have so many creatures and competing factions to play with that the story occasionally feels as though it has wandered into another adventure before finishing the last one. Some of the detours are funny enough to earn their place, but they can crowd out the more compelling question of what Jo and Raissa owe each other as their lives change. The film works best when its wild ideas bring that tension back into focus.
That friendship gives the spectacle its weight. Jo’s lack of direction and Raissa’s excitement about leaving put them at different points in life without making either one the villain.
“Forgotten Island” understands how unsettling it can be to realize that someone you love is moving forward and you may have to find a new way to stay close. Its Filipino influences also give Nakali a character of its own, tying the fantastic world to stories the friends have carried with them since childhood.
The animation has the vibrant, expressive style Crawford and Mercado brought to “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” and it moves with enough speed to keep even its more crowded stretches entertaining. “Forgotten Island” may not reach the emotional heights of DreamWorks’ very best films, but its inventiveness and affection for Jo and Raissa make it easy to get swept up in.
Grade: B+
FORGOTTEN ISLAND opens in theaters Friday, September 25.
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