The Island Review
by Steve Rhodes (Steve DOT Rhodes AT InternetReviews DOT com)July 22nd, 2005
THE ISLAND
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2005 Steve Rhodes
RATING (0 TO ****): ***
"Just because people want to eat the burger doesn't mean they want to meet the cow," McCord (Steve Buscemi) explains to Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson), a couple of naive clones, about why their originals might not be happy to see them.
THE ISLAND, a sci-fi action picture, is set in a future in which rich people fork over several mil to have spare body parts always at the ready. With enough money, the wealthy are able to extend their lives by fifty or sixty years through these techniques.
The clones, however, thanks to a Nazi-like doctor and CEO named Merrick (Sean Bean), have a completely different view of the world. They think that it's all contaminated. They live in a fascist future in which everyone wears white, and they all hope to win the lottery for a trip of a lifetime to "The Island," which is an uncontaminated area called "the world's last paradise."
Lincoln Six Echo smells a rat or, to be more precise, sees a moth who makes it in unharmed from the "contaminated" world outside. That, plus finding out that the lottery is rigged, convinces him that he and his best friend -- the clones have been programmed to be sexually unaware -- Jordan Two Delta should run like crazy and get out of there. Director Michael Bay, doing his first film not produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, shows that he studied too hard at the feet of his master. He creates some exhilarating chase sequences but keeps forgetting to yell, "Cut!" This sometimes turns a smart sci-fi thriller into an exhausting action picture with little on its mind other than smashing up another car. Still, the film is funny and fun. Think of it as this summer's I, ROBOT.
THE ISLAND runs too long at 2:13. It is rated PG-13 for "intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language" and would be acceptable for kids around 11 and up.
The film opens nationwide in the United States on Friday, July 22, 2005. In the Silicon Valley, it will be showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.
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