Forgotten Island
A movie as visually and auditorily busy as “Forgotten Island” better have something emotionally strong at its center- otherwise, it’s just going to be chaos. To the credit of writers and directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado, they have delivered that in a story about two friends whose decade-long friendship is about to take a jarring hit when one of them goes off to college, leaving the other one behind. I love this type of story, and “Forgotten Island” has a great friendship at its center in Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano). I was completely on board.
Jo is raised by her grandmother, Lola (Dolly De Leon), while her father has promised to bring her to America with him. Lola has told Jo tales of a mystical land called Nakali, where all sorts of magical creatures and happenings take place. She’s telling this in class one day, and it’s so chaotic she’s sent to the principal’s office. There, she meets Raissa, who believes her. Smart as a whip, the two become best friends, and share their lives through collecting various charms for homemade friendship bracelets. A decade later, they’re graduating high school. Jo has begun a string of retail jobs, while Raissa is getting ready to study at Caltech. They have one last night together, and they find their way in Nakali. But they can’t remember what happened that night, and they need to find their way home.
There’s an element of “The Hangover” to this story that leads to a lot of insane comedy, especially as the two find themselves collecting more and more people along the way, including a dog boy (voiced by Dave Franco) who claims to be part of their “pack” (according to crude tattoos); a vain merman; a giant three-eyed baby; and a bird to carry them all. Raissa has also collected a set of wings, and their first stop is a memory demon who might have to do with why they can’t remember. There are times when the film seems to get drown in its own style, but it always finds its way back to the connection between Jo and Raissa. The memories will be the key to everything, whether it is good or not for their friendship. Each step on the journey, each character, carries a bit of the puzzle Jo and Raissa are trying to sold, but in the end, it will come down to them.
Crawford and Mercado have created a dynamic pallette for the film. Sometimes, it’s leaning into tradition CG animation. Other times, it seems inspired by comic books, anime or even stop motion animation. I love the look of this film, and it’s been given a fantastic soundtrack focused around pop remixes and the score by Nathan Matthew David. There are times when it can be a lot- maybe even too much- but once we get to the end, we’ve been on a journey that earns its energy, and emotions. I completely understand why this wouldn’t be for everyone, but it energized me every step of the way, until it hit me in the feels by the time the credits rolled.
