Judy Thorburn's Movie Reviews
The Island
- Details
- Category: Judy Thorburn
- Published on 24 November 2008
- Written by Judy Thorburn
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LOTS OF ‘PRODUCT’ PLACEMENT FOUND IN “THE ISLAND”
Cloning is a controversial subject that has been used as the premise for many movies. If you caught the coming attraction trailers of the sci fi thriller, The Island, you would know that once again it’s the central focus. With action director Michael Bay at the helm (the first time without producer collaborator Jerry Buckheimer), I also knew to be prepared for his signature car chases, gunfire, lots of things blowing up, and well, you know the rest. That isn’t to say the film doesn’t offer an interesting, thought provoking take on the matter, that is, if the ear piercing noise surrounding the accompanying barrage of destruction that takes place in the second half of the film isn’t too overwhelming.
For the first forty minutes or so Bay stays restrained, keeping the focus on the evolving storyline starting with an intriguing set up. In the not so distant future of 2019, residents within a huge sterile facility are led to believe they are special, the remaining survivors of a global disaster that wiped out most of humanity. The daily routine means living in a Big Brother type environment, where a Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean, in bad guy mode, as usual) oversees everything such as assembly line jobs, food restrictions, clothes worn (mostly form fitting white) and how close you can get to the opposite sex (no nooky allowed). The only hope of any citizen is to win the lottery so they can be transported to the island, “the world’s last paradise, the only uncontaminated piece of land on earth”. However, one man, Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan McGregor) has been having strange nightmares, something that causes him to be the first to question his existence. Only, he had no idea that curiosity would lead to a shocking revelation. The truth be known, all the residents of the huge compound have been living a lie and are human replicates, clones created by Merrick Biotech to be used merely for replacement parts, organs for the very rich who can afford this form of “medical insurance”. Upon discovery, Lincoln takes hold of his friend Jordan 2 Delta (Scarlett Johansson), who happened to just be chosen as a lottery winner and scheduled for an island trip, (what better timing?) and together they are forced to escape and run for their lives.
That’s when Bay lets loose with his bag of tricks. When Merrick hires a former Special Forces agent, Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou) to track down the innocent fugitives, the chase is on – meaning get ready for some high voltage action. Bay stages one unbelievable chase after another, on the highway or streets, making sure he gets in some cars, or trucks flying and rotating through the air at incredible speed before they come to a loud and violent crash. Added to the mix is a helicopter or two and even a super jet propelled flying motorcycle among the flying debris, and fiery explosions. In between Bay manages to return to the storyline adding an interesting sequence such as when Lincoln comes face to face with his “sponsor”, the man who paid a hefty fee of $4 million for his “product” created at the manufacturing plant. But, that eventually segues into a fight for control of a car in another speedy chase, although the special effects, with McGregor in dual roles, are seamless. Johansson is mostly relegated to the role of shapely and pretty damsel in distress. She does a good job running and hanging off a building, but McGregor carries the film. There’s an emotional scene in which Jordan sees the woman from which she’s been cloned (in an actual Calvin Klein commercial that starred Johansson) and then gets to briefly speak to her son by phone, but nothing more is ever realized from her character. What IS prevalent are lots of product placement – Puma shoes, MSN.com, Aquafina, Johnny Rockets, Ben and Jerry’s, just to name a few. No need to wonder where some of the money to back this film came from. Count the movie as one big multi product ad.
Similarities abound from 1978’s “Coma”, which starred Genevieve Bujold as a doctor who discovers some unethical cloning secretly going on her in her hospital. One can also note a bit of Logan’s Run”, George Lucas’ “THX 1138” and of course, “1984” in the Island’s storyline. Nevertheless, writers Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci do add a twist with the scenario that the clones are given to make them believe a lie.
The Island touches on such thought provoking moral and ethical issues as human consciousness, and the sanctity of life. Beneath all that over the top action, audiences are given an intelligent, tense and exciting script that couldn’t be kept at Bay (Michael, that is).