"The first hour of The Island is a somewhat calm, thought-provoking exploration into the future world of cloning, genetics, and a blonde-haired Scarlett Johansen prancing around in a tight body suit. Though after the first hour, one can hear the sound of Michael Bay groaning from restraint like a child trying to hold his bladder during class. Before long, it’s action time! Unfortunately, that's when things go downhill."
The Island is Michael Bay’s latest “blow-em up” action venture. Though I probably don’t even need to explain that for you savvy MovieWeb readers. Bay is known in the industry for cranking out non-stop explosions under the partnership of his long time collaborator Jerry Bruckheimer. The dynamic duo has created a handful of projects that have raked in big money despite the fact that some of the films….well…wreak of crap (Pearl Harbor! Excuse me).
With The Island, Michael Bay wanders onto the Warner Brothers lot without backing from Bruckheimer. As well he experiments with a new genre: science fiction. And I must say, for a filmmaker that can’t seem to do anything but tell direct a generic romance in the middle of explosions and gunshots, taking on a complex sci-fi piece is quite a feat. In fact, the first hour of The Island is a somewhat calm, thought-provoking exploration into the future world of cloning, genetics, and a blonde-haired Scarlett Johansen prancing around in a tight body suit. Though after the first hour, one can hear the sound of Michael Bay groaning from restraint like a child trying to hold his bladder during class. Before long, it’s action time! Unfortunately, this is when things go downhill.
The story kicks off in an indoor society where everyone dresses the same and is told what to eat and do. It is not quite clear to us why these people are here. In fact most of them are not sure themselves. They just know there was apparently some sort of a worldwide contamination and they are safe in their little underground bubble. As an incentive to get by everyday, a lottery occurs where from time to time a lucky winner gets to leave the community and live on an exotic island.
Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor-- pulling off an American accent quite well) does not share sense of awe over the island like everyone else. In fact he questions his existence and what really occurs at this dream destination. When his friend and subject of infatuation Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansen) finally wins her escape, Lincoln gets down to the truth about paradise. And the truth certainly isn’t pretty. Good thing Scarlett Johansen is.
Once Lincoln and Jordan start running, the head of their community (Sean Bean) brings in a bounty hunter (Djimon Honsou). This is when the well-paced narrative shifts into Bay territory 100%. This is a land where people walk in slow motion, everything gets blown the crap up, and the actors are probably sitting behind a set piece getting sloshed because their stunt double is doing all of the work.
The first half of The Island is actually impressive. Especially for Michael Bay. I’ve never been a big fan of Bay’s work lately. His past projects (Bad Boys II, Pearl Harbor) are like giant empty voids sugarcoated with explosive candy shells. Heck, even Armageddon was like that, but an indescribable force still has me in favor of that one. With The Island, I see something in the first half that is rare from Michael Bay: storytelling. Even the science fiction setup is clever. The indoor habitat where these people live is reminiscent of old school sci-fi flicks such as Logan’s Run, and I welcome the nod to the past.
The problem with The Island is that Bay makes the second half nothing but mindless action. I realize that big booms are Bay’s specialty. Though after watching a well-written, well-directed science fiction hour, I am disappointed to see Bay drop the act and continue on with his same shtick. It is a lot like seeing a student that once made F’s start making B’s, and then go back to making F’s again. These days it seems to me that Bay’s films are borderline grade-F material. It is as if the man is oblivious that his films are caricatures of the typical Hollywood film. I am all about movies being unrealistic and offering me a sense of escape, but it is hard to do so when I am laughing.
Here is the bottom line: the first half is good, the second half is crappy, and the whole thing is decorated with decent performances. Bay regular Steve Buscemi manages to swing in for a scene-stealing supporting role, and we all know what wisecracking goodies he has to offer. What a good man! I would suggest waiting to see The Island on video. Based on the mere twelve million bones it took in at the box office opening weekend, I am sure everyone else agrees. Perhaps spend your hard-earned dollars on Oscar-caliber material like Stealth!
Questions? Comments? Just want to talk movies? Drop me a line at dodd@movieweb.com
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