Dreamworks’ Forgotten Island is an animated movie for adults but because animation is for children it is forced to live inside of the PG box. This is the conclusion I finally came to after writing an earlier review trying to make sense of a movie that so romanticizes growing up in the 90s with analog technology.
The early screening I saw began with a promo title card featuring a boombox playing a cassette labeled “BFF Mixtape.” This seems a strange choice for a movie whose theoretical core audience has never heard of mixtapes let alone made one. The movie itself begins in the classroom of young Jo and Raissa as Jo gives a presentation explaining the island of Nakali and the creatures that inhabit it. We then follow Jo and Raissa as they grow up and bond over all manner of childhood activities. Including that true millennial rite of passage, watching R rated movies on broadcast TV. In this case a live action clip from Predator which is featured in low-def glory on the girl’s TV and censored by a perfectly timed clap. This scene is the biggest clue that we are not dealing with a normal kids movie here.
Am I reading too much into this? It’s a joke for the parents, but we go further when the girls reach Nakali and the plot mimics The Hangover. Jo and Raissa awaken with no memory of the last twelve hours having lost the magic sand dollar that will send them home. Their only hope is the weredog Raww who spent the night partying with the girls. A fact proven by his new tattoo which matches and equally new one on Jo’s arm. In case you are doubting The Hangover comparison the tattoos read “The Wild Pack.” There is a lot of humor and a battle with a vampire demon and a perfectly predictable twist. Some odd choices like the bizarre merman character and his talking starfish nipple covers, certain to leave some parents questioning if they really should be showing this to their kids. In the end the real villain is a memory stealing demon motivated by a desire to experience the world but crippled by a fear of leaving her home.
Is this a kids movie? An adult comedy? It’s a little of both. Parents shouldn’t be so uptight anyway. Let your kids watch Predator. And with some luck the kids who see Forgotten Island will wonder about that old analog tech and realize the memory stealing monster living in a cave is the same as someone who watches shorts all day, letting the opportunity to make real memories and build the friendships and make life worth living slip away. A thesis summed up best by the very first line of the movie, Jo screaming, You people sitting in the dark, wake up!