Bottom line: Reasonably diverting sci-fi
action thriller enlivened by the
presence of Ewan McGregor, Scarlett
Johansson and Steve Buscemi.
"The Island" starts off an aggressively derivative
sci-fi thriller, then morphs
into an above-average chase melodrama.
With a pair of classy actors, Ewan McGregor
and Scarlett Johansson, aboard for
the ride and director Michael Bay injecting
high-octane fuel into the story's
engine, the movie kicks into gear through
a series of implausible though fun
sequences of pursuit that utilize nearly
all the movie action toys from digital
effects to daunting stunts to massive
sets and locations.
While entering the marketplace with
less noise than "War of the Worlds" and
"Fantastic Four," "The
Island" should soak up much boxoffice coin in the
coming weeks, both domestically and
internationally.
For a while, the dystopian story about
human cloning by Caspian Tredwell-Owen,
Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci seems
more likely to inspire viewer games of
Spot the Movie Clone as the filmmakers
shuffle through any number of old
science-fiction movies for plot points
and design ideas. These range from
"Coma" to "Logan's Run."
Since human cloning itself has become such a
hot-button topic, the film feels contemporary.
Even Kazuo Ishiguro's recently
published novel, "Never Let Me
Go," deals with a similar story minus,
of course, the chases.
What's troubling from a political point
of view is that these filmmakers have,
perhaps unwittingly, delivered a film
certain to give succor to the religious
right. In this ethical horror story,
scientists experimenting with human
genetics to advance medicine and cure
illness are cast as Dr. Frankenstein
villains. The chief villain, Dr. Merrick
(Sean Bean), mouths platitudes
about curing leukemia but clearly has
greed in his heart.
The early going sets up a humdrum, meticulously
controlled environment where
white-clad inhabitants lead aimless
lives while supposedly being sheltered from
worldwide contamination resulting from
an ecological disaster. From the first
moment, we know this is all a ruse.
An omnipotent police force monitors every
bodily function, obsesses over the "proximity"
of males to females in the
quasi-segregated population and refers
to inhabitants behind their backs as
"products."
Only when the curious and restless Lincoln
Six Echo stumbles onto the truth
about the facility, which 95% of the
audience will already have guessed,
and grabs his pal Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson)
for his comrade-in-escape
does the film take off. Fleeing the
fake environment for the real world,
the pair stumble into the Arizona desert
with a private army led by
ex-Special Forces commander Albert Laurent
(Djimon Hounsou) in hot pursuit.
Their ace in the hole is a cynical but
accepting worker at the facility, McCord
(Steve Buscemi), who in the past has
sneaked booze and other contraband
to Lincoln. They track McCord to a desert
bar and, feeling guilty about his
involvement in the cloning enterprise,
he agrees to help them.
There is an unfailing law of filmmaking
that once Buscemi gets cast in a movie,
all the best lines and comic business
automatically gravitate to him. Here again
he almost single-handedly jump-starts
the movie. When he abruptly exits
the picture, his presence is truly missed.
Two striking things animate the remainder
of the picture. One is highly
creative chases on freeways and airways
of the future. In one, wheels on
a big rig turn into lethal weapons.
In another, a futuristic two-man flying
machine slams into a glass skyscraper
and ends up dangling out the other
side, entangled in a sign.
The other gimmick has McGregor playing
both the original Lincoln and his
clone, one with a Scottish accent and
the other American. In an amazing
fight scene, using motion control cameras
and careful physical movements,
McGregor actually wrestles with himself.
McGregor and Johansson's characters
comprise an impossible combination
of innate smarts and born-yesterday
naivete. Yet the young though veteran
actors pull these conflicting conceits
off with a fair amount of conviction and
credibility.
Bay's team hits on all cylinders as
designer Nigel Phelps captures the extremes
of an ominous future, Steve Jablonsky's
surging music urges the action on
and Mauro Fiore's energetic cinematography
blends nicely with the many
digital effects.
The Island
DreamWorks Pictures
DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Pictures present a Parkes/MacDonald
production
Credits: Director: Michael Bay; Writers: Caspian Tredwell-Owen,
Alex Kurtzman
& Roberto Orci; Story by: Caspian
Tredwell-Owen; Producers: Walter Parkes,
Michael Bay, Ian Bryce; Executive producer:
Laurie MacDonald; Director of
photography: Mauro Fiore; Production
designer: Nigel Phelps; Music: Steve
Jablonsky; Costumes: Deborah L. Scott;
Editors: Paul Rubell, Christian Wagner.
Cast: Lincoln Six Echo/Tom Lincoln:
Ewan McGregor; Jordan Two Delta/Sarah
Jordan: Scarlett Johansson; Albert Laurent:
Djimon Hounsou; Dr. Merrick:
Sean Bean; McCord: Steve Buscemi; Starkweather:
Michael Clarke Duncan.
MPAA rating PG-13, running time 133 minutes.