Fantasy Island (2020)

 Elevator Pitch: A plane arrives at the island and disgorges five people who enter the front door of a beachside mansion to be greeted by Mr Roarke who tells them that they will immediately be able to fulfil their fantasies. He takes stepbrothers J.D and Brax to a spot where there is a massive party around a swimming pool going on with budgie smuggler young men and bikini clad lovelies present for their entertainment. Melanie, a young woman is sent to a control room where a girl who bullied her is gagged and tied, ready for torture. Patrick, who has always wanted to be a soldier is taken into the jungle where he is re-united with his special forces father, and Gwen is given the opportunity of accepting an offer of marriage which she turned down five years earlier. So far so good, but things are not quite what they seem.

Content: No sex and almost nudity although at the pool party very brief swimwear is worn by the participants. As the fantasies play out the scenery is adapted to their requirements. For the proposal of marriage there is a restaurant with many diners, for the bully torture there is a control room with lots of buttons. Melanie rescues her victim and they wander about in the jungle a lot. There are several scenes of gunfights with people being shot and some ghoulish figures in the shadows.

A View: This film had an estimated budget of $7 million and made $48 million, so someone was probably happy despite the dire criticism of it. It seemed to start off quite well, and I was going with it, but even accepting that the island was magic the plot gradually fell apart as time went on, failing at all levels, but particularly the logistics. I gave it an acceptable score, possibly because I thought that the actors did pretty well and I liked the environment. It was not even slightly frightening. An acceptable oddity, maybe a watch for nothing.

Other films based on TV series reviewed on this site: The A Team, Mission Impossible, Baywatch.