Kevin Lewis’s Willy’s Wonderland is the latest film from Saturn Films—a production company owned by the internet’s favorite scenery chewer Nicolas Cage. In this horror-action comedy, a mute stranger (played by Nicolas Cage) is tasked with cleaning an abandoned children’s entertainment joint similar to Chuck E. Cheese and Showbiz Pizza. Cage struggles to get the job done as animatronics mysteriously attack him, but these mascots underestimate his strength and determination to finish the job.
Visually, the film looks awful. Footage looks like it was shot on digital and then further butchered with a filter. This visual style works well in some of the indoor segments where sets are lit by arcade machines and spotlights, but the scenes shot outdoors have an awful yellowish tint.
The film also gives off a very 80s tone that makes me think, director Kevin Lewis, was inspired by “80s nostalgia” type shows like Stranger Things or Cobra Kai. This extends to the techno/synthpop feel of the soundtrack.
Now, let’s get down to what’s exciting about this movie: the premise. The advertising promised Cage VS animatronic action, and the film definitely delivers. The CGI is kept to an appropriate minimum, and most of the animatronics appear to be costumes or props. While some of the fight scenes are too short or strangely-edited (such as the fight with the Siren Sara animatronic), the majority of the action sequences are simultaneously exciting and hilarious.
Amidst the gore and crazy action, Nicolas Cage’s performance as the janitor, is what glues the film together. He never utters a word of dialogue. He leaves ongoing action scenes just to drink soda and play pinball.
He’s completely devoted to getting Willy’s Wonderland clean. He crafts makeshift weapons out of random junk. He tears apart animatronics with his bare hands. And it’s clear that Cage is enjoying every second of it.
In contrast to Cage’s scenes, the movie also has a forgettable, distracting subplot about a girl named Liz (played by Emily Tosta) and her group of friends who try to burn down Willy’s Wonderland to destroy the evil animatronics once and for all. The group follows the horror movie cliché of idiotic teens getting killed in horrific ways.
The movie has all the slasher archetypes: the dumb boyfriend, the couple that has sex during an inappropriate time, and the “Final Girl”. There’s a clear element of parody to these characters, and while fans of classic slasher movies might find some of these scenes funny and entertaining, it came off as obnoxious to me.
Besides Cage and the teens, the movie also has a group of corrupt hillbillies played by Beth Grant, Chris Warner, and Ric Reitz. Beth Grant, in particular, is good as the sheriff of Hayesville. The hicks get a sufficient amount of screen time, but they don’t overstay their welcome.
In many respects, Willy’s Wonderland is a bad movie that fills the role of a troubled-development project dumped out in the early months of the year. And while I do think the movie is deeply-flawed, I couldn’t help but enjoy the bizarre, chaotic action of the movie.
It’s certainly no horror masterpiece, but after all these long months without any enjoyable movies being released, Willy’s Wonderland scratched the itch for dumb cinematic fun. If you’re a fan of slasher movies or are just in the mood to see some good old-fashioned Nicholas Cage overreacting, then you’ll probably have an enjoyable 90 minutes with Willy’s Wonderland.