Please Don’t Destroy: The Treasure of Foggy Mountain is one of those absurd movies that should only be watched with friends, and that too when you’re all high. Making no sense whatsoever, the film is a tale of three guys who resemble no actual teenagers on planet Earth. The dialogue in this film seems to have been written while the writers were under the influence, and the result is that the film doesn’t register on any emotional level. Having one ‘clever’ and ‘witty’ scene after another, the story is basically a tale about friendship, and embedded in it is a coming-of-age story, but the film becomes an adventure movie when the three mates go on to find the treasure of Foggy Mountain. Quirky would not be the right word to fully encapsulate the characters’ behavior in the film. I think this can be touted as a pure Gen Z movie. Nothing makes sense; there is no time taken to set up the jokes and the gags, and the resolution is so out of whack with the original premise that it all borders on being called meaningless. Was it fun, though? Only in some places where the absurdity was a little curtailed by the intriguing subplots and wacky character introductions.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Martin, Ben, and John are three best friends who all work at the store owned by Ben’s father, Mr. Garen. They sell all kinds of weird stuff, from bird whistles that sounded like a screaming man to wingsuits not made to withstand high winds. The trio were grade-A losers who had no real purpose in life. Martin and Ben were a little better off; John was the biggest loser in the group. Ben had a weird relationship with his father, and he wanted to be his own person and start his own business: a hair salon ‘for boys only’, and yet when John planned to go to Foggy Mountain, he abandoned all his ambition to go on a treasure hunt. Years ago, they found the compass belonging to the French Naval Explorer Jean Pierre Le Roche, and it was said that he had hidden his treasure, the bust of Marie Antoinette, in the Foggy Mountain. Martin had a girlfriend named Amy, but when John decided to start his treasure hunt, he couldn’t turn him down after learning the bust could be worth more than 100 million dollars. Their trip was disturbed by two troopers, who were after the treasure themselves.
How Did The Trio Lose The Treasure Map?
The trio had some inkling as to how to go about their treasure hunt. The Foggy Mountains were known for some strange creatures, but the trio was so full of the spirit of adventure that they didn’t care. More than the animals, it was the duo of Lisa and Taylor, the troopers, who derailed their hunt. Lisa had hit it off with John, and he was smitten by her as well. In an attempt to be overly friendly, he showed her the map with the word ‘treasure’ written on it. If the hint wasn’t clear, John explicitly told Lisa that he and his friends were going to find the long-lost treasure. Lisa told Taylor about the treasure map, and both were convinced that the boys certainly had something concrete to go by; otherwise, they wouldn’t have come all the way down to Foggy Mountain, considering the last man to look for the treasure, Deetch Nordwind, had gone missing and was presumed dead. John had been without a girlfriend since the traumatic incident at school where his private parts had caught on fire on stage during a live theatrical production, and he was excited to find Lisa and Taylor coming in and joining them on their trek. He thought he would get some private time with Lisa, but she had been instructed by Taylor to steal the map. Lisa and Taylor tied the trio up and went on their own hunt. But they weren’t going to get very far as John had the compass, which did not point north but towards the chamber where the treasure was hidden.
Why Was There A Rift Between The Three Friends?
The trio got the bust with a little effort, but they had to fight off Lisa and Taylor later. They grew tired of carrying the bust around and soon got lost, as they did not have the map and neither could a compass get them out of the forest. Cranky, they turned on each other and thus started the fighting, which stopped for a brief moment when they discovered Deetch’s cult that he had started. He was alive and was ruling over his fellow wanderers and treasure hunters with an iron fist. Lisa and Taylor caught up with the group and were amazed to see the cult. Deetch wanted to destroy the bust, as he himself had failed to find it, and now his only wish was to destroy it so no one else could ever find it. The treasure had basically ruined his life, and he had stayed away from the civilized world for over twelve years. When he noticed that John had the bust with him, Deetch destroyed it in a fire, or so he made everyone else think he had. It was an illusion. John saved the bust and gave it to Martin and Ben, who had no plans to join the cult, and hence they left while John and Lisa decided to stay, as they both were ‘nobodies’ with no one waiting for them back home.
How Did The Trio Destroy Deetch’s Cult?
When Deetch found out that John had given the bust to his friends, he grew furious, as he always intended to sell the bust himself. Mr. Garen had the bust, and he was planning to sell it for a mega profit. Deetch decided to arrive with his army and steal the bust. John was left on the mountain, and he wouldn’t have been able to escape if it weren’t for Martin and Ben, who returned and rescued him. Now the trio were finally together, and they decided to save Mr. Garen and prevent Deetch from stealing the bust. Their weapons were limited, but there were Lisa and Taylor to help.
There was a surprising weapon in their armory that they never knew would return. Martin had an alter ego, Lawrence, which was a drunk but kickass version of himself. When it emerged, one could bet one’s life on Lawrence to get the trio out of trouble. Martin had decided never to drink again after meeting Amy, which meant Lawrence was forever retired. But after Deetch’s army started their attack on Garen’s shop, he knew it was time for Lawrence to return. He destroyed Deetch’s army, and Ben, John, and the rest took care of the other cult members, who thought they were spared from Lawrence’s wrath. Ultimately, the bust was snatched away from Deetch’s hands by the hawk that only followed Ben’s bird whistle, which sounded like the scream of a man. The trio had made a mark for themselves in the community and were no longer considered losers. Martin patched up with Amy, and she gave him permission to drink and be Lawrence whenever need be. Ben started his business, a hair salon ‘for boys only’, without Garen’s approval, and John started his love life with Lisa. Deetch was perhaps arrested by Taylor, and Garen must have sold the bust for a profit. So, in the end, the treasure hunt was a successful one, and the trio got much more out of the trip than they had hoped for.
