Willy’s Wonderland (2021).

Nic Cage vs. Chuck E. Cheese

Directed by Kevin Lewis

Written by G.O. Parsons

Starring Nicolas Cage, Emily Tosta, Beth Grant, a bunch of Chuck E. Cheese rejects, and horrid camera work

1. (The Stage)

A man finds himself stranded in a small town after he has some car trouble. A local business owner promises to pay for the car repair - in return, the man is to clean up an old party palace called Willy’s Wonderland overnight. Sounds easy enough…but not all is what it seems inside Willy’s Wonderland, and the man finds himself face to face with nightmarish animatronics.

2. (The Good)

I’m a huge Nic Cage fan. Not in an ironic way as many people are, I legitimately love Nic Cage’s work and want to see him succeed. The role he plays here is unique, in that he literally doesn’t say one word throughout the entire film, but we do get to see him go insane on some giant robotic monstrosities and dance the night away while playing pinball. He’s always a great onscreen presence. His hard-working character only cared about cleaning the joint and I think that omitting a backstory (or even a name) for him was a good move.

The story is about as weird as stories get, something I will always appreciate. An old cursed building, built on the back of a satanic ritual that the town essentially “feeds” people to as a way to keep those entities inside of the building is a really fun premise. Adding in Chuck E. Cheese-like animatronics is a horror that many of us can relate to, because even the real life ones are fucking terrifying. Don’t get me wrong, the script is dumber than a bag of hammers, but at least it’s a fun premise.

3. (The Bad)

Unfortunately, the film is hampered by camera work that feels like it’s trying way too hard to be edgy and cool. Fight scenes are horribly shot and edited, often with dozens of cuts, incredibly shaky camerawork, and they almost always feature unnecessary angles just for the heck of it. The lighting is often poor during these scenes as well, leaving much of the gore to the imagination aside from blood splattering. Because of this, encounters with the creatures become indiscernible and lose their sense of fun very quickly. Next time let’s just get one tripod on set and an editor who knows that we are allowed to stay on one shot for more than three seconds.

There’s also a pack of side characters who find themselves in Willy’s Wonderland mid-movie (because we need a body count) and they’re all just cut/paste degenerates with little to no personality who make ridiculously bad choices because the script needs them to.

The creatures, while creepy, could have had better “signature” ways to kill people. As it stands, whether you’re looking at a distorted fairy or a vicious alligator, you’re just getting bitten to death. One of them has a sort of whip tongue, but the way it’s used is rather lame. The way they’re killed is basically the same as well. Beat to a pulp, rinse, repeat. It would have been nice to see each one present a different challenge, like the gauntlet put forth in 1987’s The Running Man.

4. (The Ugly)

I never would have predicted that I’d see Nicolas Cage curb-stomp an animatronic gorilla on the edge of a toilet urinal, but here we are. Aside from that encounter, watching Nic Cage clean the bathroom was one of my favorite parts of the film.

5. (The End)

This was a so-so time for me, but Willy’s Wonderland is not a film that I’d be jumping to recommend. I really expected more from the film. Unfortunately, the filmmaking and it’s weak script got in the way of this being a blast. My favorite parts of the film shouldn’t be the ones where Nic Cage is wiping down bathroom sinks or playing pinball when there are possessed animatronic monsters roaming around. I’d have liked to see more creative gore and a better supporting cast to help Nic Cage out.

I also thought the decision to give Cage zero lines was intriguing, but giving him one-liners and leaning into the ridiculousness of everything might have added a little heart into the film.

I haven’t played the game series Five Nights at Freddy’s, but this film is drawing a lot of comparisons to that so if you’re a fan, this might be right up your alley.