Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island

Based on the 1970s television show, Blumhouse’s 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 Peña’s Mr. Roarke, possessing magical properties that inevitably wind up twisting the heroes’ desires to an often deadly extent. It’s 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 picture’s decidedly mysterious atmosphere and the various characters that inhabit its picturesque landscape – with, in terms of the latter, Peña delivering a solid turn as the enigmatic Mr. Roarke. It’s equally clear, however, that Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island doesn’t 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 Wadlow’s screenplay, and although the various subplots eventually do converge, Blumhouse’s 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.

** out of ****