Willy’s Wonderland, whose appeal stems from the fact, that Cage is placed in an abnormal situation where anything can happen, which makes him unnecessary to hold back (Is he ever?) Best Movie Site
Cage plays an unnamed man whose car gets stuck in a nail in Hayesville, a remote town around Nevada. Since the mechanic doesn’t accept credit cards as a means of payment, while the absence of an internet connection makes ATMs impossible to access, our hero is forced to accept a job as a cleaner overnight, at Willy’s Wonderland, an abandoned family entertainment center.
There are eight animatronic puppets in there, and predictably, they are no ordinary dolls. Similar to the premise of Five Night at Freddy’s, they can move, even attack. Yes, attacking Nicolas Cage. What a stupid decision. They thought Cage was trapped with them, but in truth, they were the one who was trapped with Cage.
The character Cage is not only anonymous, nor does he even speak. Through a quick flashback, we know that the eight dolls have claimed the lives of many humans. Maybe at the beginning, like me, you would think the protagonist had deliberately locked himself in as a form of revenge. But not. He’s just a wrong guy in a wrong place and time (wrong for those animatronics of course).
His characterization is reminiscent of the “nameless man” formula we often encounter in western films (an animatronic one called him “cowboy”). A lone wolf, a wanderer, closer to a figure from a legend than an ordinary human. And the reinforcement of the mysterious impression by G. O. Parsons’ script is perfect, considering that our protagonist is a hero who doesn’t budge even though a living animatronic with a terrible face suddenly stands in front of him, then bandages the wound using duck tape. Combine it with Cage’s hysterical acting style, it’s easy for the audience to support him, not sympathetic or relatable, but because his figure is cool. Movie Review
The pattern of the story itself is repetitive. Cage clears every corner of the room, the alarm goes off, he breaks down over a beer, fights the monsters, then repeats. This goes on, until a group of youths, led by Liv (Emily Tosta), comes to help. Help Nicolas Cage ??? That’s cute. Instead of being helped, they only added to the problem, and of course, the body stock to be slaughtered. In addition, these teenagers also functioned to deliver an exposition of Hayesville’s dark history.
Including Liv, these teenagers are so stupid and / or annoying that they create their own satisfaction when one by one dies. Unfortunately, Willy’s Wonderland’s assassination methods are not very varied. Lack of creativity, even though there is a lot of blood. Creativity that certainly needs to be maximized, especially when Kevin Lewis as the director applies shooting methods such as crash zoom and dutch angle, as if he wants to “make the film” to stand in the ranks of true b-movie. At least, even though it hasn’t maximized its potential, Willy’s Wonderland, which Lewis moved quickly, did not leave any boring moments. Top Movie