Willy's Wonderland is an action horror comedy movie. The film is produced by Saturn Films, JD Entertainment, Landafar Entertainment, Landmark Studio Group, and Foresight Unlimited and distributed by Screen Media Films. Willy's Wonderland is written by G.O. Parsons and directed by Kevin Lewis.
The story is a quiet drifter's car breaks down in the remote town of Hayesville, Nevada. The drifter agrees to take a job as a night-shift janitor for the once successful Willy's Wonderland. Night comes and everything seems normal until the animatronics start trying to kill him. Now it's a fight for survival until the sun rises.
Initial Reaction
At first I was going to skip out on this movie because at that time all I saw was the title, then my mind changed when I heard Nicolas Cage was going to star in it, then my I was fully on board on seeing this when I read the synopsis. Then my excitement grew to another level I can't even describe when the trailer was released. After watching that it looks like this was going to be an insane movie and I was all for that.
Cons
My only real complaint is the stupid decisions the teenagers make. I know I should've expected that given this is a B-movie but come on, when you're fully aware that the animatronics are out to kill people it's best NOT to split and it's also a good idea NOT to go have sex.
Middle Ground
The only mix bag for me was the supporting characters. Now characters such as Liv and Sheriff Lund I thought they had a good bit of backstory to them. Everyone else either ranged from okay to you don't care.
Pros
Now to talk about the main selling point that being Nicolas Cage. I gotta say for someone who doesn't say anything in this Cage did a really good job. He really had to go by facial expressions and body language and I thought he did. Sure I can understand people wanting him to say something insane or go over the top but, that would've ruined the "silent drifter" thing the filmmakers were going for. Another thing I liked about it was the action. You truly get pumped up and are waiting in anticipation for Cage to beat the ever living sh*t outta Willy and his band. What also makes Willy's Wonderland were the practical effects. The crew that did them did a fantastic job with everything. From character designs, to when machines get ripped apart, to when humans get killed. It was a nice thing for this movie to have and I'm thankful they went that route as suppose to make everything CGI. The last thing I'll give the film credit for is it's use of humor. I mean I was expecting a couple of laughs here and there but, there's a lot of humourous moments throughout the whole movie. I loved the running gag they had where after Cage kills one of the animatronics he just goes right back to cleaning like nothing ever happened.
Willy's Wonderland's biggest issue is dumb teenager decision making. And the grey area is the supporting characters. However, the movie makes up for this with a good performance from its main star, awesome fight scenes, great/bloody practical effects, and having those dark comedy moments.
My final rating is Good
Well, I'm done here. Come back on Monday, Jan 15th for my review of Judas and the Black Messiah. Until then enjoy the rest of your day.
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