Ticketworthy - Forgotten Island

There’s always a fine line that animated movies with any real ambition have to walk. If they want to be aimed at children, then they have to be colorful, fun, and energetic enough to keep those children entertained. Well-designed characters with big, bombastic personality traits are required, as is simple to understand humor and plenty of action. At the same time, the truly great children’s movies have lots in them to keep older audiences entertained as well. Usually this is accomplished by giving the story real emotional weight and meaningful conflict, along with the occasional mature joke buried just deep enough that kids won’t quite get why their parents are laughing. The creators of Forgotten Island, writer/directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado, clearly understand this formula. It has all of the elements you could possibly want in a genuinely excellent animated film. However, some real issues with the script and editing keep those elements from every properly meshing, leaving us with a movie that has all the right pieces but can’t seem to fit them together as well as you’d hope.

The plot follows childhood best friends Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano). The girls have grown up together in the Philippines, bonding over their eccentric personalities and shared love of Jo’s grandmother’s stories about a magical island called Nakali. However, after graduating high school their priorities begin to change. Jo is directionless, working odd jobs just to pay the bills, while Raissa is moving to America to attend Caltech. The night before Raissa is set to leave, everything changes when a portal opens beneath their feet and takes them to Nakali. They wake up the next morning to realize that they had a massive, wondrous adventure on the island the night before that neither one can remember. Now the pair have to search the island to find their lost memories and get home, while keeping their suddenly strained friendship from falling apart.

At its core, Forgotten Island is a story about friendship. In that way, it is unquestionable success. Jo and Raissa are wonderful, relatable characters that kids are going to easily latch onto, while their friendship is the absolute beating heart of the film. Watching the two of them try to navigate their changing life goals and learn what it means to be friends even if they aren’t going to be physically together is compelling and heartbreaking at times. Most of the additional characters that they pick up along the journey across Nakali are also vibrant and fascinating, though the pace of the film does prevent the story from using them to develop the central theme much further. There just isn’t enough time to properly focus on the relationship the main duo has with the side characters, but I still liked them a lot.

Part of the reason all the characters work so well is that the voice acting is pretty much great across the board. H.E.R. is very convincing as Jo, a character that requires a huge amount of energy to bring to life. Liza Soberano is perhaps the breakout star of the show, giving Raissa a real feeling of conflict and heart that consistently pulled me back into the movie anytime I felt my mind starting to wander. She’s fantastic. The supporting cast, including Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, and Manny Jacinto, are all perfectly chosen as well and never left me questioning any of their performances.

I also have to give credit to the incredible soundtrack and animation. The song choices, an eclectic mix of 80s and 90s pop/rock, contemporary hip-hop, and traditional Filipino styles, almost always match the vibe and energy of the scenes where they are used. Meanwhile, the entire movie is gorgeously animated. Every frame is filled with bright colors and fluid motion that makes even the most action-packed moments a treat to watch. Even the quiet parts of the film are beautiful. The are style is just that good.

For all that the film gets right, however, it is not without major issues. Far too much of the early film focuses on Jo and Raissa’s relationship as children and growing up. In a perfect world, I actually don’t have a problem with that, since establishing their friendship is the most important part of the story. Unfortunately, there are only so many minutes available in a film’s runtime, and this one doesn’t have nearly enough to cover all the material it wants to once it actually gets to Nakali. Many events are shown via one of the numerous flashback montages, which are fine but really only made me wish I’d gotten to watch the events play out naturally. The result is a story that feels like it has an end goal in mind and is often in way too big of a hurry to get there.

Even more of an issue than the pace, though, is the tone. There are plenty of parts of Forgotten Island that have the silly, frantic energy that will appeal to children. There are other parts that have much more mature language and material that seem designed specifically for teenagers and adults. Those different parts rarely, if ever, blend together well. It often feels like you are watching two different movies, and the jumps between the two are fast and jarring. I can see what they were aiming for, appealing to multiple audiences is a great idea, but the actual result is messy and strange.

Even with its flaws, which are unfortunately pretty huge and noticeable, there’s enough that Forgotten Island gets right to warrant a watch. It’s a very fun movie with amazing characters and visuals that are going to capture the imaginations of children and adults alike. Honestly, I think another 20 to 30 minutes of runtime would have given the filmmakers the chance to balance the pacing a bit and make the tonal shifts less obvious. There’s just a bit too much crammed into too little time. Still, even if it isn’t the best animated film of the year, Forgotten Island is still one to remember.