written and directed by Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado
Forgotten Island is the big-budget, amazingly-crafted love letter to Filipino culture that many of us Filipino movie lovers hoped for but never actually believed we'd get from Hollywood. Dreamworks Animation, and in particular directors Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado and their amazing cast and crew have truly stepped up and delivered something unique and truly memorable.
Forgotten Island is the story of two friends named Jo (voiced by H.E.R.) and Raissa (voiced by Liza Soberano) who grow up together in the Philippines with a shared love for music, adventure and a magical, mystical place known as Nakali Island, which they learned about as children courtesy of Jo's Lola (Dolly De Leon), As they grow older, however, their paths begin to diverge, and when Raissa is about to head off to college in America, Jo persuades her to hang out for one last time.
During their beachside partying, though, something strange and wonderful happens, and the two best friends find themselves in the fabled island of Nakali, with a variety of bizarre and amazing creatures like Raww the weredog (Dave Franco), Bungie the demon baby (Manny Jacinto), Batiba the Memory Demon (Jenny Slate), the Kapre Tribe (Jo Koy and others) and the terrifying menace of the Manananggal (Lea Salonga). The problem, however, is apparently that their memories are fading, and they need to get home as Raisa has a flight to catch to go off to college. Will they be able to make it home in time?
There's a recent online phenomenon known as "Pinoy-baiting" in which foreigners, knowing Filipinos' addiction to online content and self-affirmation, post lengthy videos extolling various aspects of Filipino culture, ranging from food, hospitality to tourist spots, all for the purpose of generating engagement. I won't go into that, as this is a movie review but suffice it to say, if this movie had been done poorly, in could have easily been labeled as "Pinoy bait."
Fortunately, the movie is not only expertly crafted, but it was clearly prepared with a great deal of love and sincere affection for all things Filipino. Do all of the jokes land? Not necessarily. Does the story lean on tropes? Yes. Are there cringe-inducing moments? Sure. Did this detract from my enjoyment? Not at all. It did make for some chuckle-inducing moments, though.
Happily, however, whatever the shortcomings may have been in some of the supporting voice actors, the lead actors H.E.R. (born Gabriela Sarmiento Wilson) and Soberano have a genuine chemistry as childhood friends Jo and Raissa, and they are helped along by a wonderful if brief vocal performance by Dolly de Leon (not a Fil-Am, incidentally, but a full-on Filipino actor) as Jo's Lola. Soberano positively shone as Raissa, and H.E.R., whom I only knew as a singer, turned in a performance that was a truly pleasant surprise.
These are the core performances that drive the story, but there are plenty of other enjoyable turns from the supporting cast members, like Dave Franco's Raww, Manny Jacinto's Bungie Tiyanak, Jenny Slate's Batiba and Lea Salonga's Manang. I would like to give Jenny Slate (who's basically voice-acting royalty) her flowers; despite not being Filipino, she quite notably nailed the pronunciation of the few Tagalog words in her dialogue.
This film truly was a delight that spoke to the value of friendship and family, and for someone who had been hoping to see this kind of movie from Disney or Pixar for years, I consider myself satisfied and I profusely thank DreamWorks Animation for giving us what no one else would.
9/10
*I also posted this on my newly-opened letterboxd profile.
