If Satan came up with a Muppets show for kids, it would be Willie's Wonderland. In theory. Defiant, unconventional and in a sense prescient horror film shot in the best traditions of “From dusk to dawn”... only with a high degree of delirium! You see, the monsters here are the animatronics, who are possessed by evil spirits. Even if it sounds like a bad adaptation of "Five Nights with Freddy" or from the outside looks like material for a parody, you can still be calm: the script interprets such original techniques in its favor and makes you remember the times of horror films of the 1980s, i.e. the era when horror was approached more lightly.
Cool and unshaven Cage, whose eyes are hidden behind mirrored glasses, arrives in his Chevrolet Camaro in a small, sleepy town. After driving on spikes and being towed into the garage, Cage receives an offer that can not be refused: a local man will fix his car, and in return Cage must clean up the local abandoned entertainment center – the same “Willie’s Wonderland”. Nicholas nods (literally, because he doesn’t say a word in the whole movie), starts cleaning up, and naturally meets a whole host of killer robots.
Wonderland consists mainly of scenes filled with underlined violence. The janitor fights the creatures. Periodically, Cage is distracted to play pinball and drink energy. It seems that Nicholas feels at home, despite demon-obsessed animatronics: the actor demonstrates professionalism, as does his character, who also does not get distracted from cleaning.
In many ways, the plot of Wonderland does not risk taking on too much. The backstory of the hellish place, the main character, secondary characters ... everything is simplified to the limit. Most likely, this forms a certain atmosphere: after reading the abstract, the viewer receives exactly the film that he expects on the screen. The advertising campaign did not fail: the spectacle is cheap, stupid, absurd, that is, exactly what was promised. However, it is worth the pace to slow down, the plot twists and turns immediately come to the fore, because of which all the shortcomings are visible.
Of course, the central figure was our favorite Nicholas Cage. Oh, his fuzzy and cheap movies have their charm. They’re easy to polish, but Wonderland is a different kind of project. Of course, the “junk” Cage resume has long consisted of one-day films in which the star is filmed for modest fees, so that there was something to pay the bills, but it seems that in “Country” the actor understood the absurdity of the situation, so the shooting here for him can not be called soulless, cynical or humiliating. Rather, his presence complements the insanity: Cage enjoys the process and even believes on some level in this thrash aesthetic.
In keeping with the rhythms of other horror comedies, such as Kill Holiday, Wonderland often breaks the fine line between cruelty and farce. With the exception of the aforementioned "Chevrolet Camaro", the film is a spectacle of timelessness: as if "Wonderland" could get on video services from the world of the 1980s. This creates a special atmosphere that can be enjoyed by certain segments of the audience (especially fans of films of category B), but otherwise “Willie’s Wonderland” is a bloodthirsty festival without frills, entertaining thanks to fervent bloody orgies and, above all, the presence of the winner of the “Oscar” who embarked on the path of war with the revived mechanical freaks.
Nicolas Cage has recently starred in some films, but even if it is a wild thrashic type ' Mandy', he still tries to do his best, but it does not always work out, because directors usually just do not understand how to use Nicolas Cage.
Here'Wonderland Willie' this is a great exception to the rule. The film is actually a reimagining of the video game 'Five Nights at Freddy's', only Nicholas Cage, being locked in a building with animated demonic animatronics, does not pee in his pants, staring at the screens in the security room, nothing like that - he gives the animatronics fierce lulas, along the way cleaning up the premises of the building, because work is work.
Cage in this film is silent, mysterious, calm as a boa constrictor, intelligent as mathematicians have become and strong as the dominant female gorilla. The contrast is particularly strong against the backdrop of a bunch of hysterical teenagers who sneaked into the building to take revenge and burn the animatronics along with the building. Now, in addition to cleaning and annihilating monsters, Cage will also have to save the children!
The film is not scary, and in fact does not try to seem so, it is a cheerful thrash that enjoys what it is. In short, there is a plot, with all sorts of mysticism, the director sometimes mows under Edgar Wright, sometimes even successfully, a bunch of dead teenagers played by actors under 30. In general, a very good film with Cage, dark, but funny, everything is right!
P.S. I would like a whole series of such films, in each silent character Cage gets into a new mess in a new city, and faces ghosts, then werewolves, zombies, vampires of all kinds. That would be an anthology!
P.P.S. ': It's not him trapped with them! This is them trapped with him!' - for the fact that they thought of including this line in the film (reference, hedgehogs) the film is already pulling a dozen.
I still watch movies with Nicolas Cage out of habit. The other day, a new one, Willy's Wonderland, was released.
In this film, Nicolas Cage’s character does two things: he keeps silent and hits the faces of growth dolls.
Interestingly, Cage also produced this movie. He saw the script on the Blood List website - this is a platform for selling thriller scripts. Cage was interested in the script and he decided to become an actor and producer in this film at the same time.
But let’s see what the movie is about. Cage's hero is driving somewhere when his car breaks down near a county town. A local man fixes Cage's car and charges him a big bill. Cage only has credit cards, and the ATM doesn't work. The owner of the workshop offers him to spend the night in an abandoned amusement park, in return the owner of this park will pay for repairs.
At Willie Wonderland, everything is covered in mud, but Cage gets to work – cleaning the floors, cleaning the sinks and drinking something from the cans every hour. Night comes and the killer dolls wake up. Can Cage handle them with a mop?
As you can see, the plot is simple and rather idiotic. However, with such a plot it would be possible to make a funny film. Did Cage succeed? Not exactly.
Fights with dolls are done well, albeit on a budget - Nicholas beats a gorilla and breaks the mouth of a crocodile. However, his character has trouble expressing emotions. Not only is he silent, but he is not at all surprised when a living crocodile spits at him. That’s not what I’ve seen in other movies. It is clear that the idea of Cage was to show a person completely devoid of emotions, but it looks boring.
In the middle of the film, teenagers enter the park and intercept the viewer’s attention. Teenagers will also be destroyed by evil dolls - you need something to take screen time, because the cleaner (the name of the hero Cage) rips off monsters' heads too quickly.
The main problem with this movie is that it’s not funny enough for a comedy and not scary enough for a horror movie. Most of all, “Willy” is like a parody, but there are not enough interesting moves to deconstruct the genre.
The result is a second-rate film that neither laughs nor scares. Is it worth watching? Not necessarily. Unless you're interested in seeing what Nicholas Cage has done again.
Across a small town, a tough guy was driving across the line of time and space. So he would have bypassed the village of urban type, but here's the problem, the car broke down. Fortunately, the guy is not from the timid ten, and is able to solve himself with help, or problems on a dashing and head. If you travel around the country, then go around small towns, there is evil. Don't you know, the guy with no name? These slums can only please with stories, there was children's laughter, and now silence, difficult teenagers, and an abandoned house with rides. Did you know that a quiet harbor hides behind a circus tent? Not surprised by the graffiti urging you to run away from the carnival place? A stranger is no stranger to solve problems, such places with a surprise await a new portion of food, as frightened townspeople - a knight in armor.
It's moral. This is Nicholas Cage's new attraction. Nick has already dealt with terrorists, sectarians, kidnappers, mafia clans, sociopaths, director of snuff films. His punishing sword, without regret, multiplied by zero the diverse crowd of antagonists. And when the supply of villains exhausted itself, Cage rushed into the sunset on a brand-new mustang, towards the blazing forest roads, the scent of autumn and freedom. Fresh wind rehabilitated the talent almost crumbled on previous bumps, and the decisive battle with growth puppets came in handy.
First, because over the years of an unhealthy lifestyle, Nick stopped pulling complex images, talent is also a muscle that requires training. And Uncle Nicholas, very much mired in wastefulness, and a different lifestyle and spending, launched his talent. Large studios do not offer work, but original ones are very ready to invite to their projects. The story of an amusement park with monsters, just such a project. Nicholas is very fanatic of grotesque, comics and other buffoon in bright colors. A case of the kind that 'Wonderland Willie' is a vivid example of a teenage movie in the style of thrash comics madness. In other words, the grotesque knows no boundaries, and improvisation is welcomed and encouraged. Here I saw what I wanted to see - endless action, and fervent music with a truly cool synth-pop soundtrack, and neon scenery in tribute to the era of horror from-80's. Ode, as brutal as possible, Nikki distributes socks of cowboy boots to all representatives of the fauna of mystical evil. And it does it with taste and ease. There is no tired look, and a tortured face, on the contrary, Nick is cheerful and fit. Wonderland Willy becomes a battleground of good and evil in the rays of neon spotlights, and thank the operators for this, high-quality processed image. The effect of modern old school because of this multiplies, playing into the hands of the atmosphere. It is exciting to see demonic dolls and Cage handing out the good old, eternal, absolutely impenetrable face. Hello to the classics of the 90s, plus the traditional replay. Some things are suddenly appropriate, given the character, which is entertaining. There are also mandatory supporting characters, teenagers, the sheriff, and all the other things that we love movies about those very small towns. But, the main star, Nicholas Cage, coped with the task and did not fail, because he is here cake. It seems that Cage has finally realized that big projects can not be seen, and independent he can and can make brighter due to his charisma. Well, better late than never.
I am sure that many people expect from this film the long-awaited adaptation of the game Five Nights At Freddy & #39;s. What's the end result?
Let me tell you right away, this film has nothing to do with the game, the similarity ends with the animatronics themselves and the Great Mystery & #39. Not even pizza! Therefore, do not wait for scarecrows, although the creators tried to catch up with suspense for the first half of an hour, but in the end we have a fun action in the style of 'Zombieland'.
Why is this a positive assessment?
First of all, thanks to the performance of Cage, who didn’t really say a single word in the whole movie. The hero accidentally finds himself locked up all night in a restaurant with a bag of soda and a mop, but he is not alone, and he will have a close acquaintance with each of the local residents, which is also done very well and filmed without unnecessary special effects, all live. About the rest 'human' actors to say nothing, and they are not needed there.
Secondly, I rarely remember the soundtrack from films, especially if they are not well-known songs, but here ONE person tried to fame, writing really interesting motifs, even forcing to add one of the tracks to his playlist.
Personally, I did not expect anything from the film, as I am not a fan of the original game, so I was able to enjoy watching it. Yes, the movie is inherently a one-time attraction, but you don’t feel it after watching wasted time.