The Island (2005) (1 Viewer)

[Alex Spindler]

I liked the film a good deal and I think in some ways he managed to expand and improve on his chase sequences from BB2 during this film. Some of the concepts shown in it were pretty fun to watch and were moved fast past enough to make them nice details.

One bit of a problem though was the idea that the Lincoln in particular had memory. What was this implying, some sort of psychic connection with his 'sponsor'? Some kind of DNA memory? I can understand making Linclon have that special kind of natural curiousity, but the memory thing has me thrown for a loop.

 

[Nigel McN]

So still no one has seen Clonus and The Island yet?

 

[DavidPla]

Looks like the film didn't fare so well at the Box Office. It was #3 only making 4.4 Million

 

[Patrick Sun]

Well, I guess we can cross Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson off the "A" list of actors capable of opening films to large box office grosses (at least those not within a film franchise, a la Star Wars).

I'd probably watch the chase scenes from The Island a few more times just because they are fun and nutty as hell, but otherwise, it's a movie that just lacks any sort of real emotional connection to the audience that would earn decent word of mouth as well. And now that it's going to earn less than $20 million in its opening weekend, it'll be lucky to pull in $55 million to $60 million domestically.

 

[Don Solosan]

So still no one has seen Clonus and The Island yet?

I've seen 'em both. The Island is Parts: The Clonus Horror on steroids. Whether or not that's a good thing depends on your personal taste. I thought The Island was fun enough. But I didn't go in expecting the whole thing to make sense or be really good (I have a low opinion of Michael Bay's storytelling abilities -- The Rock is his only movie that I own and can rewatch).

 

[Dave Hackman]

I had a blast watching this. I love runner type movies and this gives you that plus a whole lot more. Interesting controlled environmental community, great chemistry between the two lead characters, awesome high-speed destruction utilizing tons of great camera angles and a story that doesn’t feel cut or compromised.

I consider this a perfect movie for those who like this type of Sci-Fi. This movie looks great and sounds awesome and I thought that both Scarlett Johansson and Ewan McGregor delivered top notch believable performances. The entire cast contributed nicely with my only dissatisfaction being Djimon Hounsou who I had trouble understanding.

I am glad this movie was made because quite honestly I hate the new Star Wars saga and the way it seems to suck up the genre like a freaking black hole. I enjoy the crumbs that are released like Primer, Final cut, Equilibrium, Matrix, Signs, Vanilla Sky, Pitch Black and now this.

A

 

[Qui-Gon John]

WHen I saw the trailer before the Star Wars movie, at first I thought it was a Logan's Run remake.

Yes, when I saw the trailer on TV, at first I thought it was the LOGAN'S RUN remake I'd read was in the making.

 

[Luis Esp]

It was entertaining, but there wasn't any new ground covered.

Aside from the blatant product placement, and the fact that the film played like a long Calvin Klein commerical (perfume ad, clothes & accessories), the one sequence I didn't get was the breakfast scene.

If the whole facility was designed to build a healthy clone, why were they serving eggs & bacon to Scarlett Johanssen's character?

 

[Adam_S]

:star::star::star:1/2
DLP
07/23/2005
There is really only one off moment in the whole film and those are Johannson's incredibly idiotic lines during the chaste love scene (which itself was a little pointless to see.
This is good sci-fi, it presents a delimma, much like I robot, but it never really bothers exploring that delimma too much (like I robot) because it favors action sequences more. The action sequences are outstanding, many many things go boom boom boom boom--which is always fun. The chases here are better than Mr. and Mrs. Smith, whose strength was the duels rather than the chases.
Structurally the film is rather fascinating, rather than a typical Hollywood three act structure, the film more easily divides into five acts:
Act 1: The world of the island
Act 2: Realization and escape from the island
Act 3: Escape the trackers
Act 4: With the Sponsor
Act 5: Cleaning up.
Overall I enjoyed it a lot, not a great film, but very entertaining and well done.

 

[Shawn_KE]

The Island was nothing new, but I enjoyed it. McGregor and Johansson played their parts well. Face paced and some good fx.

The one thing that bugged me about it was this takes place 50 years from now, yet other than a few prototype showcars, everyone was driving the cars of today.

 

[Justin Schneider]

Actually, it takes place in 2019.

 

[Shane Martin]

I enjoyed it quite a bit as well. I don't think it covers new ground but I think with Bay not covering the whole political issues(cloning and stem cell stuff) that we're spared a political speech that some hollywood folks would love to shove down our throat.

Overall I liked it quite a bit. I gave it a 7 out of 10.

 

[Mike Graham]

I loved Bay's The Rock and Bad Boys, thought Armageddon was ok, and detested Pearl Harbour and Bad Boys II.
The film to me felt like 3 distince acts:
1. Setting up the premise of the cloning facility.
2. Escaping the facility and the pursuers in LA, resulting in the death of the real Lincoln.
3. Returning to the facility.

I thought the first two acts were wonderfully done, and the chase sequence on the highway the best since The Matrix Reloaded. The bounty hunter is played very well by Djimon Hounsou, as well as Sean Bean's turn as the directory of the facility. However, by the third act the film doesn't to have anywhere to go.
Once the real Lincoln is killed, its almost as if the plot has absolutely nowhere to go, so it simply sends the characters back to destroy the facility.
And yes, the film is heavily influenced by THX 1138. Blade Runner and a host of other films. Either way, worthing seeing:
B

 

[Matt Leigh]

I really liked it as well. Bay's strongest film since The Rock. The only problems with this movie are that the chase sequences aren't cut tight enough in some instances and we get a few short yet somewhat redundant sequences that serve to tell us what we already know.

Otherwise the film is a solid 8/10. Bay's shots are gorgeous, the performances are good all around, the script is quite well written and there is a soul in there.

I hope the movie can develop legs and make its budget back. I've waited most of my life to see cool sci-fi action pictures and seeing the good ones get ignored just means they will make less and less of them.

 

[JoshB]

Just got back from seeing it, and thought it was the perfect summer movie.

Although I did look at the box office numbers before seeing it, and it earned ~$12 million over the weekend, coming in 4th place. It will likely clear about $40-50 million by its end, making it a rare defeat for Bay, who has been able for the most part to inject a little action in the summer box office in the past 10 years. Maybe word of mouth will make it a bigger hit, but in a crowded summer schedule, I doubt it.

Maybe it was his departure from Bruckheimer, or using talent that has yet to be truly capable at the box office (Orland Bloom/KOH, for example), or his first true journey into sci fi (while mixing it up with huge action pieces).

I still found it to be a pretty gripping film for the first 1/3, but right after he meets his clone, it sorta takes a detour to just ending the film as soon as they can. I think they expected too much for the two characters, having them topple a major corporation, out run cops and mercs, and try to survive in a new world. All this in the span of just a few days that pass by in the film.

They could have just kept he film grounded in the "institute" and have the two leads try and overcome them there instead of going to the outside world. All the outside world did was provie an excuse for them to hook up and destroy several city blocks and a few dozen cars (which looked very cool)

Here are some of the high and low points:

The Good:

1) Cinematography: I usually look at this in a film very closely, and Bay's films always look superb. He used the same cinematographer in BB2, and it has the slick look to it. The first part of the film in the institute looked amazing, combining the costumes and the production design(also very superb). These aspects (production design, costumes, and cinematography are what helps sell a sci fi pic, and Bay pulled that off. The opening credits looked great too, with the fly by over the shores.

2) Visual effects: It wouldn't be a Bay film without them, and naturally they look amazing. He used the same VFX supervisor (Eric Brevig, who worked on Pearl Harbor, Hook, Signs, Day After Tomorrow, and Total Recall), so clearly they have that covered as far as realizing a sci fi world. L.A. looked pretty impressive, tough the borrowed alot of concepts from previous films, but what else can you do though to make it seem real and believable. Pretty much everythign has already been covered and done before.

3) Action scenes: Again, superb work. The freeway chase was one of the best action scenes I've seen this year, though I agree it looks a little too much like BB2 in some shots. I would love to see how they got that armored car to flip end over end.

4) Supporting cast: Ewen and Scarlett hold there own as leads, but the supporting cast has great as weel, especially Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, and Steve Buschemi. They have already proven themselves previously in many other films, and do a great job here. I wish Djimon had more screen time, because he could clearly be leading actor material with the right film. I guess it was good to see him in a big budget film.

The not so Good:

1) Predicable: Its pretty obvious where most of the film is heading, so its no suprise what to expect in scene after scene. This is too bad, since they did a good job of building the opening of the film.

2) Rating: Its PG-13, though I think they made some cuts to keep it audience friendly. I could tell Bay was trying to shoot for an R in some scenes. After the carnage of BB2, maybe he was trying to lighten it up.

3) Runtime: At 2 hrs 20 minutes, that pushing it even for sci fi or action. It didnt bother me and I think the runtime was fine, but its harder to keep people coming in to see a near 2 and a half hour film.

4) Writing: Too many cliches, and not enough development of the characters. Are we to belive that in one scene they can barely drive cars, and the next they are hanging from buildings, shooting guns, and outrunning helicopters? Granted it would take too much time and hurt the pace to show them learning these things (we just assume they did learn it) and just go with it since we hardly care for plot holes and contrivences during an action film, but afte the film is over, analyzing these thigns makes it harder for people to want to come back if something just doesnt add up. Althoug the film is meant for this, in a sic fi film you rely on smarts such as this to keep the audience in a futuristic world, and you dont want to add any sense of doubt as to what is possible or what is clearly not. The audience is smarter than you think.

Overall, I would give it a 3.25/4. I think it is Bay's best film and his best use of a cast, and there is some good film making here, even for a sci fi action film.

I had one question though. Who will be in charge of the DVD release, DreamWorks or WB? I'm pretty sure DM (in which case we can count on a pretty good SE). Any thoughts on what to expect, and when?

 

[Kevin Grey]

Its dead, Jim.

 

[Mikel_Cooperman]

Although I did look at the box office numbers before seeing it, and it earned ~$12 million over the weekend, coming in 4th place. It will likely clear about $40-50 million by its end, making it a rare defeat for Bay

This is really good news since Bay said in the recent EW article that he makes his movies for 20 year olds and doesnt care what critics think. His movies are usually more action than plot so it's good to see someone pick up on the stinkiness of his movies.

 

[Shawn_KE]

I don't see what's wrong with making a movie toward a certain type of crowd.

 

[Dustin Elmore]

I think Bay is a capable director, who's shown some promise. If you compare Bad Boys and The Rock to his work in Bad Boys II, you'll see some real growth as a filmmaker (despite BB2 generally being accepted as a bad film). He manages to create cohesive action, while still having his frantic camera movement (something those bourne movies or Batman Begins don't even attempt). He doesn't give into the studios demands, and makes a film thats 100% his. I think the kind of movies Bay wants to make would probably all be rated NC-17, movies that revel in excess of every kind. I think that if he continues on this path, one day he'll make a film that critics enjoy.

With that in mind, The Island was a huge step backwards for him. Just pathetic. I'm not a fan of his photography to begin with, but this was easily the worst example of its use. Far too much contrast and ridiculously overblown. I like it when filmmakers DON'T photograph every one of their movies the same way. His action sensiblities don't mix well for a futuristic Science fiction tale either. One wonders who actually thinks he would be a good choice to direct Transformers. He does his best work with real objects, not CGIed cartoons. Does anyone expect the Transformers to be real? All his other movies had a sense of himslef in them, you could feel his passion for them, The Island just feels like he's a director for hire.

 

[Ruz-El]

I haven't liked any of Bay's films, not even the Rock.

This one though, I enjoyed. It's deffinately an empty film, with alot of stuff that could of been cut, pretty much the whole end actually. A good film though, great action, a decent premis. Deffinatly a "Logans Run" vibe. It's too bad that the trailer gave away all the twists, but it seems like Hollywood can't put out a trailer anymore without giving everything away.

I actually liked the product placement in the opening acts, it made sense that a corporate entity would have sponsered products like what was shown.

Bottom line, I was pleasantly surprised, and can now say I like a Michael Bay film. I'd give it 3 1/2 out of 5.