I am a huge fan of Jake, Bright Sun Films, and the Abandoned series he makes on YouTube.
This takes his concept from that Abandoned series to a long-form feature-length medium on all major platforms for the first time.
The documentary itself focuses on the rise and fall of New Orleans first major theme park. Jake does a fantastic job finding people from the community and interviewing them. He digs to the soul behind the abandoned structures. He also does a great job giving us the history of the park before Katrina so we as viewers care about the park as much as the people in the community did.
My biggest nitpick would be I found the last 15 minutes to be a little flat. The producers on the project gambled choosing to follow a few specific people trying to repurpose the land; no one got the ending they wanted. The gamble could have paid off, but even as is, I think there was a missed opportunity to show more of the heartbreak and disappointment this plot of land has been subjected to for the last 15 years. The last few scenes in the documentary are flat because we didn't get a deep emotional pay-off on one of the narratives they set up. Digging in deeper on the heartbreak and frustration of those people that were trying to repurpose the land may have elevated the final moments of this documentary just a touch.
If you are a fan of Abandoned on YouTube, this is a must-watch. If you are just a general fan of documentaries, this holds its own without any knowledge of Jake's previous work. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in Katrina, New Orleans, theme parks, or urban exploration. For a first feature-length documentary this is an amazing achievement and Jake could easily find himself helming more documentaries in the future!
Well done and keep up the great work!
Strengths
- Jake is a fantastic narrator (A+++)
*** His slow and clear cadence works perfectly with the somber abandoned material, sweeping drone footage, and delivery of heartbreaking backstory; this is a skill he seasoned with hours of YouTube narration and he has a gift for narration***
- Interesting and diverse interviews cut well against other footage and peppered throughout
- Great footage. The drone work on the abandoned park is fantastic. They also mine old footage to juxtapose the current dilapidated state of rides against the vibrant footage from the past. Very well cut and one of the strengths of both this documentary and the Abandoned series!
Weaknesses
- At times the score overpowered the narration early; they did seem to dial this down later but I found a few spots in the beginning that the narration was fighting with the score
- The last 15 minutes was a bit of a letdown.
