Fantasy Island (Jeff Wadlow, 2020)

For a good 3/4 of its running time, Fantasy Island wasn't thaaaaaaat bad, certainly not worthy of the drubbing it's received from critics who pump far more venal franchise fodder. It's a dopey, lightly humorous attempt to inject horror into the original television series (a Saturday night staple following The Love Boat and Dance Fever), avoiding the lugubrious feel of far too many reboots. But in its last quarter, it goes off the rails with doppelgangers and reality/virtual reality games and I got either confused or angry. Or was it sleepy? I can no longer recall which. Maybe dopey? In any event, a good film to throw popcorn at with a group of friends.

Still, it seems to have turned a profit according to Box Office Mojo largely because the budget was a minuscule $7 million (although that may not include advertising costs). And we'll never know how much COVID-19 cut into its take. So expect a sequel. Yay!

Grade: C