FANTASIA 2022 | MOVIE REVIEW: 'Cute' Can't Cover The Faults In "Island Of Lost Girls"
4/12 ForReel Score | 1.5/5 Stars
Charm and adorability can go a long way for a film, but Island of Lost Girls stretches these favorable facets thin when they have to compensate for so many other sub-par aspects of this adventure. Yes, “ambitious” is an accurate word to describe Island of Lost Girls, but with ambition comes opportunity for shortcomings, and unfortunately with this presentation, you don’t have to look hard to find plenty of those.
Island Of Lost Girls is a family affair; directed by Ann-Marie Schmidt and Brian Schmidt, and starring Autumn, Avila, and Scarlet Schmidt, this is a family film that follows three young orphan sisters who, during a day on the beach, get swept away to an isolated island. In an effort to reach the island’s lighthouse, their exploration of the island leads them to harrowing experiences that they have to work together to get through. Because ultimately, it’s these girls’ commitment to each other that defines their greatest adventure.
The sugary sweetness of the plot is only further embellished by the eye-popping cotton candy-like saturation of the cinematography. Extremely bright and colorful, it’s clear the vibrancy of the film is aimed at optimizing visual appeal for the Island of Lost Girls’ younger target audience. And it helps that the film’s score is full fledged, featuring grand, sweeping music that communicates the heartfelt and whimsical nature of this film.
But despite these glowing components of Island of Lost Girls, what we’re presented often feels like a penultimate draft of this film. The bright and bubble gum style of color grading is prominent, yet inconsistent and unsustainable due to more color muted settings and varied lighting. And the visual effects - which the film relies heavily on for some of the more harrowing scenes - have very obvious mistakes, making Island of Lost Girls fall short of something I’d consider to be a suitable cinematic experience.
It’s abundantly evident that Island Of Lost Girls is not a movie for me. But there’s an audience, likely made up of families that have little girls with big dreams for adventure, who might adore and appreciate this experience. At the very least, Island of Lost Girls looks like a film that the Schmidt family must have had fun making. I can only hope that their fun in making it transcends the film's flaws and translates into fun for those whom it’s meant for.
Acting and Casting - 1 | Visual Effects and Editing - 0 | Story and Message - 1 | Entertainment Value - 1 | Music Score and Soundtrack - 1 | Reviewer's Preference - 0 | What does this mean?