andrewtislercinephile

Wapoosh! DreamWorks' *Forgotten Island* delivers everything I expected: Glorious animation with some really cool anime references, hilarious jokes and physical comedy, strong character bonds and interactions, powerful, tear-jerking emotional scenes, immersive world-building, and an upbeat soundtrack that rivals even the likes of *KPop Demon Hunters*. This movie's story-which is all about the fear of separation between best friends Jo and Raissa-reminds me of my own friendship with my best friend Christopher Kapoun, and how he moved away, but we stayed together as besties even after that moment happened. The Nakali island characters are also really fun and full of personality, although Manananggal and Raww are my favorites. And having the movie end with both Manananggal and Batiba redeem themselves by giving back people's items to ensure their memories remain intact really shows that DreamWorks has the guts to pull off the same levels of emotional storytelling Pixar gives us, while at the same time providing a great parallel to Jo's decision to let Raissa attend college in America. Speaking of that ending, it made me cry really hard. Oh, and the soundtrack was a banger, mainly thanks to the score by Nathan Matthew David and the songs, including BINI's "A Parallel World" and H.E.R. and Liza Soberano's songs "BRB" and "Jerk in the Box", among others, though I do wish this movie was a jukebox musical. Please do not sleep on this movie. It is a true gem to behold!

CinemaSerf

"Jo" and "Raissa" wake up one morning without a clue what happened the night before except that they had found a magical shell like object that had mysteriously transported them to the island of "Nakali". Before long they've befriended, well interrogated really, a dog/fox called "Raww" who suggests they visit a cat straight out of "Macbeth" - the only creature who can get them back home now that they've gone and lost their talisman. There is a price to pay, though, and that is their memory bracelets. They must sacrifice all that binds them together if they are to escape. Yeah, like hell they will so now they set about trying to find their lost totem - and that's easier said then done as this island has more than it's fair share of quirky characters for them to ally with or fend off. What are their chances? Well no, jeopardy isn't even on the list here let alone near the top of it; instead this is a celebration of a lovely and colourful Filipino culture mixed in with stories of courage and determination; friendship and just an hint of vampyric-style menace as they engage on their quest. There's some humour; plenty of parodies of, and oblique references to, some of it's earlier cinematic inspirations and there's a fun scene towards the end that might have been inspired by Homer (or Sir Christopher Nolan). Sadly, though, I just wasn't engaged with the relentless pace of the incessant dialogue nor with the two leading characters who started off by getting a bit on my nerves - a sensation never really abated as their escapades progressed. From Pixar's perspective, this is probably one of their more innovative efforts but for fans of fantasy animation in general - especially those from Spain, this isn't really anything to write home about. It passes the time, but like the island I think it will soon be forgotten, sorry.

andrei

ONE OF THE BEST ANIMATION MOVIE FROM DREAMWORKS ANIMATION!! IT'S WORTH IT TO WATCH ON THE BIG SCREEN!!! Forgotten Island from DreamWorks animation is good especially if you watch it on big screen at the cinemas. The movie shows the Filipino culture and it's about friendships. The only problem of DreamWorks for this movie is it's fast paced, I hope their next animation movie is slow paced so that viewers like me can absorb much more of the story and lessons from the movie. But overall the movie and the animation is good, and the songs in the movie is good and so nice to hear.