English/Filipino/Tagalog Cast: H.E.R, Lisa Soberana, Dave Franco, Lea Salonga Review by Carol Allen
It’s co-directors Joel Crawford and Januel P. Mercado first worked together on Kung Fu Panda 2 and their further work as a team includes Puss in Boots: the last Wish. One of the many things they have in common is their links to Filipino culture. Mercado is Filipino American, Crawford has a Filipina wife. And the story of Forgotten Island is particularly interesting in that it introduces a new audience to the folklore of those islands.
The story is one of female friendship and sisterhood, set in the Philippines of the pre-internet 90s. Jo, a rebellious orphaned tomboy lives with her doting grandmother (Lola Fatima), who tells her folk tales of terrifying monsters from her own childhood. Jo becomes friends with the studious Raissa, when they bond while at elementary school. Come High School leaving time though Jo (singer-songwriter H.E.R) is stuck in a dead end burger bar job, while Raissa (Lisa Soberana) is off to the US to study at college.
After her leaving party, the two friends go to the beach and something called an enchanted sand dollar transports them to the forgotten and enchanted island of Nakali. The island has removed their memories of recent events – that’s why it’s called Forgotten Island – and in the search to recover them they meet some of the many enchanted beings who live on Nakali.
One of them who attaches himself to the friends is s Raww, (Dave Franco) a weredog (not wolf), who is very amusing but has a disconcerting habit of changing shape and can’t always be trusted. The there’s Bungi, (Manny Jacinto), a large and spoiled baby demon, who doesn’t want to leave his mommy but decides to join the girls. Others include the male eye candy Mermahn (Kevin McCann), Prince of the Kataw people, who’s a bit like Aladdin’s genie, Batiba (Jenny Slate) the Batibat, who collects memories from others because she has none of her own and the very scary Manang (Lea Salonga),
The plot is actually a bit standard – characters in a strange environment who make some friends, face some dangers and must find their way home while learning some life lessons – and the most interesting aspect of the film is the way it introduces us to Filipino folklore and its characters. Those characters are also more than somewhat scary. I would be reluctant to take a child under about seven to the film. Though to be fair most of our Western fairy tales have their villains – Red Riding Hood’s wolf and giant killer Jack’s enormous antagonist for example. Plus the wicked Queen in Disney’s Snow White to boot. Being scared in the safe environment of the cinema is I guess half the fun.
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