The Island

December 11, 2005

Rated: PG-13 Runtime: 120 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Island is one of those movies that we really have a tough time reviewing. At Movies for Guys we have a strict “no spoiler” policy, and this is one of those stories where you really need to go in knowing nothing about it and just let the story unfold.

The Island Here’s what we can safely say about the story. It is set in the mid to late 21st century where we meet Lincoln-Six-Echo, played by McGregor. He lives in what can only be described as a highly controlled Utopian environment. Controlled may be an understatement. When he takes a leak in the morning, the urinal detects some excess sodium and immediately sends orders down to the cafeteria to change his diet. We shudder to think about what might happen if someone cuts the cheese in this place.

We learn that the members of this society are the survivors of some sort of event that contaminated most of the Earth. However, there is an “Island” where a number of them are allowed to go to breed and repopulate the planet. Everyone’s goal is to get to The Island, and there’s a lottery held to select the winners as openings become available. Lincoln begins to ask questions and explore his environment, and that’s when the fun begins.

To say more about the story would really spoil it. However, we will say that despite those story constraints we do get all of the things we’ve come to expect from a Michael Bay movie. This is his first film without Jerry Bruckheimer, but we got our share of extreme action and a really nifty car chase. We couldn’t help but notice that despite being set in at least the year 2051 and having some really cool high tech mass transit devices, everyone drove “antique” cars from the early 21st century. No big thing, but we’re car guys, we notice things like that.

Speaking of noticing things, we love big action, we’ll suspend disbelief. But surviving a 70 story fall in a wreckage of twisted steel and getting out without a scratch pushes it just a tad. We’re with the character on the ground who witnesses the whole thing and coyly observes “Jesus must love you!”.

Ok, so Bay takes some liberties with the laws of physics. Even amongst the action freaks at our office, he draws mixed emotions. Some of us like the eye candy and action, others start to groan the first time he puts the camera at knee level and circles a character with a perplexed look on their face in attempt to convey emotion. Bottom line, The Island gets 3 stars. It felt a little long, and the suspense was really gone about halfway thru the movie. This will make a great DVD, and we suspect there may be a longer director’s cut. And it’s not a waste of time at the theater, but with the competition that is out this summer, it’s certainly not a must-see.

Posted by Billy Bob | Filed Under 3 Stars, Action, DVD, Djimon Hounsou, Ewan McGregor, PG-13, Scarlett Johansson, SciFi, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi