The concept of animatronic creatures running amok is not a new one. There’s Westworld. There’s the Simpsons episode in which robot mice turn homicidal at the Itchy & Scratchy theme park. And, more recently, there’s the Five Nights At Freddy’s video-game series, in which a security guard at a pizza restaurant fends off berserker robots. There's one thing lacking in all of those, though: Nicolas Cage. That is not an accusation one can make of Willy's Wonderland, an exceptionally pure shot of Cage madness. He may remain mute throughout the entire 89-minute runtime, but it’s a ferociously committed, truly weird (even by his standards) performance that elevates an otherwise repetitive story. You get the feeling he’s been asking his agent, “Have I been offered anything in which I batter a mechanical ostrich to death?” for a while now.
Cage is a super-stylised, unpindownable hoot, even stranger than the gonzo creations he’s facing.
Like classic ’90s neo-noir Red Rock West, the film starts with a drifter played by Cage arriving in a small town full of secrets. Unlike Red Rock West, those secrets involve Satanism and a psychotic giant weasel. As Cage is coerced into working in a haunted family entertainment centre — his character is known only as ‘The Janitor’ — a cycle begins, with an animatronic coming to life and Cage forced into violent battle with it. The action gets a little samey, and the production’s limited budget is evident. What’s refreshing is just how bizarre the central character is, not responding to the Evil Dead-y carnage with Ash-esque fear, but with a totally nonplussed demeanour. Chugging endless cans of fictional soft drink Punch (“A fistful of caffeine to your kisser”) and playing pinball between kills, he’s a super-stylised, unpindownable hoot, even stranger than the gonzo creations he’s facing.
Director Kevin Lewis gives the action some Sam Raimi energy, finishing off a bunch of unmemorable teenagers with gory flair. And though the dialogue and plotting are no great shakes, that commitment to the concept, combined with Cage’s swaggering soda-swigger, is enough to make this a good time.
