FILM REVIEW: WILLY'S WONDERLAND (DIR. KEVIN LEWIS)

2/3/2021

WIlly's Wonderland.

Director:  Kevin Lewis
Writer:  G.O. Parsons
Starring:  Nicolas Cage, Beth Grant, Emily Tosta, Rick Reitz,

A quiet drifter is tricked into a janitorial job at the now condemned WIlly's Wonderland. The mundane tasks suddenly become an all-out fight for survival against wave after wave of demonic animatronics. Fists fly, kicks land, titans clash -- and only one side will make it out alive.

In order to give what we believe to be a more unbiased constructive criticism of the piece, the members of Bloodhound Pix are tackling each review as a panel of three. None of the members know the others’ thoughts on the content until after they submit their initial response.

Initial Reaction TO Willy’s Wonderland

K.  Willy’s Wonderland opens with a couple being slaughtered in the titular kid’s birthday party place a la Chuck E. Cheese.  Meanwhile a drifter (Nicolas Cage) cruises down a nearby country road in his Camaro when he hits a spike strip.  He knocks back a few Punch sodas before the tow truck arrives.  The Tow Truck Driver (Chris Warner) takes him into the town of Hayesville, Home of Willy’s Wonderland.  Long story short, Cage doesn’t have the cash to fix his car, so he gets the offer to clean up the run-down Willy’s Wonderland complex in exchange for the repairs.   Meanwhile, Liv (Emily Tosta) tries to burn down the place, but the Sheriff (Beth Grant), and Liv’s legal guardian, stops her.

The film wastes no time kicking into classic 80s mode.  Cage sets about cleaning up Willy’s Wonderland, taking hourly breaks to slam a Punch soda.  He quickly finds out that the animatronic puppets inside are deadly.  He kills an Ostrich puppet and continues cleaning without skipping a beat.  Liv talks her friends into going back to Willy’s Wonderland to burn it down, but first she has to warn Cage.  From there a battle with the animatronic puppets ensues, blood flows, the body count rises and the ominous origin of the puppets is revealed.

I won’t spoil anymore, but I will say the proceedings are chock full of great Cage moments.  He has no lines in the film, radiating classic Clint Eastwood vibes.  He’s a hero who likes to drink soda, play pinball and dance.  There’s several memorable Cage kills, particularly his first fight with the Ostrich puppet and his dispatching of Gus the Gorilla via a urinal-head-stomp.  Beth Grant has a great and well-deserved role as the town’s Sheriff, who’s brokered a truce with the demonic puppets.  There’s lots of fun backstory and nods to Child’s Play and Five Nights at Freddy’s (duh).

Simply put, Willy’s Wonderland is a hell of a good time.  It knows exactly what kind of movie it is, delivers the goods and doesn’t waste time trying to be anything it’s not.  If you like old-school horror comedies and Nicolas Cage, you will not be disappointed.

C. I’ll avoid a synopsis since I know Kyle will have it covered… also, there’s little to actually discuss in that category. Cage cleans the building, fights an animatronic monster, cleans more, goes on break to play pinball/drink a pop, exposition dump from another character, and repeat. There you have it, and yet it’s glorious in its self-awareness.

What has been amazing about Cage’s resurgence is directors understanding how to utilize his unique style to benefit the movie. This isn’t an exception. This is Cage’s movie, even without a line of dialogue he is a delight and completely entertaining. That’s something I’ve learned to love about him as an actor, despite whatever role it may be, he’s always giving 100%. Love him or hate him, that is a sign of professionalism that many who have gone through the same career trajectory lack, walking through their roles like a drone to collect the check. However, the unfortunate part of this movie is many of the other actors aren't playing in the same ball pit as Cage, Parsons, and Lewis. And even the ones that are attempting to aren’t given enough to reach that level. It doesn’t take away from Cage’s performance but it sucks the air out of any scene without him.

The other issue I had is something that starts off as a hilarious positive, and that is the repetition I mentioned above. Sadly by making the movie entirely that repetition for about six or seven cycles, it goes too many beats that the joke loses its humor. By the end you’re wondering how many cleaning montages do we really need, and the audience shouldn’t feel that visual exhaustion for a movie under 90 minutes. Mom and Dad, Color Out of Space, Mandy worked because they embraced Cage but also gave us substance or at least took us on a journey, this feels like we are going through levels of a fighting-based video game but without the joy of controlling the fighter.

Everything considered, it’s fun and just the horror medicine needed during this pandemic. While many are leaning into “serious” horror, this feels fresh, it’s something you’ll recommend to others and even has a higher rewatch value because of it. Is it flawed? Yes. Do they put all their chips on Cage giving an “out there” performance? Yes. But at the end of the day there’s just something so joyful about it that will keep bringing me back as a viewer.

Response TO Willy’s Wonderland

C. I agree with Kyle but I would have loved to see the other characters utilized more and even taking a detour from the repetition at the midpoint to allow for more satisfying storytelling. However, it is what it is and I’m definitely glad it exists. Watch it with friends, junk food, and drinks when the pandemic is over… or I guess you could do a virtual watch party.

K. I think we’re in agreement that it is a fun film to turn your brain off and enjoy. There are issues with the repetition, that I’m sure would’ve been solved had they been working with a slightly larger budget and been able to expand the scope a bit. But it’s still a blast, earning all my respect for committing to its simple premise and not letting Nicolas Cage utter a word.

Bloodhound’s average score: 4 out of 5

Bloodhound Pix is made up of: Craig Draheim, Josh Lee, and Kyle Hintz