Directors: Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado
Starring: H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, and Lea Salonga
Movie Length: 1 hour 48 minutes
What Leo thought: Forgotten Island is a dazzling, hyper-kinetic masterpiece with a massive beating heart. It proves that Puss in Boots: The Last Wish wasn’t a just fluke. The directors and writers Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado teamed up again for this DreamWorks Animation fantasy comedy. The project serves as a highly personal follow-up to their work on Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, pulling deep inspiration from their own real-life, decades-long friendship.
At its center, the movie is a beautifully written, highly emotional look at teenage friendship and the terrifying reality of growing apart. The chemistry between Jo (H.E.R.) and Raissa (Liza Soberano) feels incredibly lived-in and real. Because the mystical island of Nakali slowly feeds on their memories, the stakes are deeply personal: if they escape, they might lose every memory of each other. It handles this heavy concept with a maturity that will absolutely shatter adult audiences while keeping kids entirely invested.
From the moment this movie began, it had an amazing vibe and energy to it from the amazing soundtrack to that dazzling neon art style, it’s one of the few movies that as I’m watching it, I think to myself. I have got to get this album when it comes out.
The film is an absolute buffet for the eyes. It completely throws out the traditional, uniform CG look in favor of a wild, trippy blend of five distinct styles like kinetic anime and manga aesthetics, vibrant 1990s neon street art, and gorgeous, traditional hand-drawn 2D sequences.
This movie tackles a lot of subjects like grief and drifting apart. That makes you think about man I wish I spent more time with my grandma. So if your grandma is still around, give her a call. She’ll be glad you did.
I loved Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, so when I saw that the same people are making a new movie I was sold. Somehow, this movie was able to make me tear up, laugh, and really feel for the characters, it is a true work of art that deserves to be seen on the biggest screen. Sure. It doesn’t do anything unique or original, it’s a story you have seen before, but it’s truly hard to find a truly original story. Since everything has been done before.
The magical island of Nakali is populated by creatures taken directly from authentic Philippine folklore. The filmmakers grew up with or learned these legends from their families (Mercado is Filipino-American and Crawford’s wife is Filipina). They took ancient, traditionally terrifying creatures—like the torso-separating manananggal, the giant kapre, and the shape-shifting demon baby tiyanak—and adapted them to fit a broad, animated comedy adventure.
Leo’s rating: I give this movie an A plus for Awesome!
Forgotten Island is now in theaters.
Are you going to see the movie? Have you already? Feel free to leave a comment below or chat with us on Threads at @theconventioncollective, or Bluesky at @theconcollective.bsky.social
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