Unapologetically silly and unabashedly entertaining, “Willy’s Wonderland” lets a silent but deadly Cage go nuts on some creepy animatronics.
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This week’s Cage Match (as chosen by the random number generator from Cage’s entire filmography) was the incomparable Adaptation, arguably one of Cage’s finest performances in a cinematic essential.
For the People’s Pick, we embraced the spooky season and put two of his more recent horror flicks up for a vote: Willy’s Wonderland (2021) and Mom and Dad (2017). The vote was split on these two wickedly fun fright flicks. So, we decided to cover one this week, starting with Willy’s, and another next week. It is Halloween, after all!
IN THIS CORNER: KELLY MINTZER
The Lowdown
I have been running a bit long in these reviews; I recognize this. Sometimes, it’s because the movies are fantastic, and sometimes it’s because they’re trash.
Well, your weary head can rest easy because this one is going to be perfectly middle-lengthed. Because Willy’s Wonderland is a really fun movie, that’s exactly what you want it to be—and what you want it to be is a pretty satisfying film that lets your brain delight in the weird charm of Nic Cage fighting animatronics. What more could you want?
Willy’s Wonderland is anchored by a wonderfully simple—yet still kind of brilliant—central idea. What if drifter Nic Cage had to spend a night doing janitorial duties in a sort of defunct Chuck E. Cheese to make money to repair his car?
Guys. Everything about this premise is great. Even before we find out the animatronics are possessed, the setting is perfectly suited for horror. A night alone in ANY restaurant would be pretty creepy, but a children’s restaurant? Populated with strange, uncanny valley creatures? Hell yes. Sign me up.
And my goodness, what a showcase for Nic Cage. He has no lines in the movie, which is an interesting departure for an actor known for his dynamic/insane deliveries. However, he manages to sell the hell out of a stoic character; his reactions are hilariously understated. He frankly doesn’t seem that surprised that animatronics are coming to life and attacking, and he handles them beautifully. It’s a truly great performance.
Where Willy’s Wonderland stumbles a bit is in expanding its world beyond the restaurant. The mythology doesn’t matter and only serves to distract. Making the world (and the runtime) shorter would have enhanced the movie greatly; how claustrophobic—to never venture beyond the walls of the darkened horror show and to leave Nic Cage entirely and completely alone with these bizarre monsters.
And better still, to never offer a reason why it’s happening—keeping it immediate? That would help us buy into its absurdity.
However, life beyond Willy’s doesn’t ruin the movie by a long shot. It’s still a hell of a lot of fun and is a magnificently lean 88 minutes. Love a film that knows not to stay too long at the party.
The Cage Factor:
Ya know what, I’m calling it a Cage Fighter. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but if you love Nicolas Cage, this is such an idiosyncratic and unusual performance from him that you simply can’t miss it.
AND IN THIS CORNER: STEPHANIE MALONE
The Lowdown
What a relief it is to read Kelly’s take on this film and see her lean into the film’s obvious absurdity and outlandish plot. With a movie like this, many people won’t get it. They’ll call it dumb, pointless, and puerile. But I unapologetically love how much it revels in its absurdity and dares you not to have fun with its wild ride.
Pre-dating the wildly successful Five Night at Freddy‘s adaptation by a few years, Willy’s Wonderland embraced our nostalgic love for animatronic nightmares by cooking up a bizarre premise: A silent janitor is hired to clean an abandoned family entertainment center, only to find himself battling killer animatronics. Classic.
As the janitor with no name, Cage is an enigma. He delivers one of his most unhinged yet oddly compelling performances—without saying a word. Not a single line. While most actors might struggle with conveying charisma without dialogue, Cage turns it into an art form. He says more with a glare or a swig of soda than most could with a monologue.
The way he methodically goes about his cleaning duties, taking scheduled breaks to guzzle energy drinks and play pinball in between battles with bloodthirsty mascots, is hysterical in its oddity.
The animatronics look fantastic. Each showdown between Cage and these haunted Chuck E. Cheese rejects is more outlandish than the last, with inventive kill sequences that mix humor and horror in a gleeful fashion.
Now… gather ‘round boys and girls while we pause for story time!
(You can skip this bit if you want, but I promise to offer some fascinating insight into how this bonkers film came about—courtesy of an Entertainment Weekly interview with screenwriter G.O. Parsons and director Kevin Lewis.)
Willy’s is a film for those who want to turn their brain off and watch Cage bash robotic monsters to pieces while indulging in ’80s-style practical effects and splattery bloodshed. The fight choreography is energetic, the kills are satisfyingly brutal, and the movie never overstays its welcome. There’s also a weird satisfaction in watching a man so dedicated to his janitorial duties that no animatronic apocalypse can stop him.
Is it a good movie in the traditional sense? Perhaps not. Is it a great movie in the sense that it gives you everything you’d expect from a film where Nicolas Cage fights evil animatronics without speaking? Absolutely.
The Cage Factor:
The fact that Cage never speaks is a genius decision. It adds to his character’s mysterious aura and forces the audience to pay attention to his physicality. Watching him thrash demonic animatronics while maintaining a strict pinball-playing regimen is like witnessing an absurdist ballet of destruction.
For Cage fans, this is like Christmas. He elevates the film in ways no one else could, using pure, unadulterated Cage energy. Where another actor might have phoned it in, Cage attacks every scene with a level of commitment that turns this B-movie into something special.
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