The Island

Great watch, will watch again, and can recommend. Even though this is from 2005, it's amazing that when you have a futuristic world, it holds up over time as the 2020 new tech doesn't seem to matter as much, or you design characters that wouldn't have average technology, this sort of does both. Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johannson, Djimon Hounsou, even Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi and Michael Clark Duncan. This has a great cast and clearly had too much money to work with. There are all sorts of sci-fi effects, crazy constructed sets, and some really over the top action sequences for this premise. And this premise is excellent: a clone discovers he's a clone and makes an escape attempt, it's a race for survival. The writing is excellently paced, and structure with a little too much of an establishing act, but it's useful and not boring, so that's still good. The leads truly embody the characters, showing a line between ignorance and intelligence: they are ignorant of societal constructs but incredibly intelligent as they've spent the last 3 years attempting to escape a puzzle box. The mechanisms to keep the pursuit of the fugitives going are all rather seemless, and there is open discussion of morality of the facility's actions by most of the cast without harping on about it. There is science and action abound, please enjoy.

**With the right expectations, The Island is a fun action-packed sci-fi flick that is every bit Michael Bay and explosion filled as it should be.** I never understood the hate this movie gets. It's a Michael Bay movie to the core, which means you know there will be some insane action, incredible visuals, and there may or may not be a great story. But The Island does a decent job of making you care about the characters as they grow and discover who they are. The cast is excellent. The chase scene is one of the best you will see. It's a big loud over-the-top action blockbuster, but I guess this is a movie that rises or falls to your expectations. If you expect a Michael Bay action movie with some sci-fi influence, you will probably enjoy yourself.

It's not bad for a movie that should have been made in the 1970s, and if it had the ending would be have been bleaker, the tone more depressing, there would have been more turtlenecks and it would have been a bigger hit. Instead it's more modern which means there is more action, more Fx, less story, less atmosphere, and a happier ending. That being said, it's one of Michael Bay's better movies and, honestly probably his best, it's a shame it flopped, he could have learned from it had it succeeded and started putting more depth in his films. It was almost there, and oh so close to being a bleak turtle necked distopian gem reminecent of the 70s with modern special effects and a happier ending. But for 2005, it's better than it should be.