Post by •°o.O emily O.o°• on Apr 8, 2007 19:58:32 GMT
*some spoilers*
I saw this Micheal Bay film in Sainsburys for £3.99 and thought "Ewan McGregor? Why not!" and watched it with an open mind after its slightly unremarkable release. I was pleasantly surprised that although an action based sci-fi film it turned out to be well shot and somewhat thought-provoking. A genetic-engineering angle on the dystopian future genre, the story follows Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) and his friend Jordan Two Delta who are "colonists" in a facility where survivors of a mysterious contamination are taken, in the year 2019. Lincoln's curiosity causes concern for the physician (Sean Bean) and questions the lottery that seems to randomly choose colonists to go to The Island - a utopia which is free of contamination. Anyhow, to cut a long story short without giving away too much - Lincoln finds out he is just a clone manufactured for his terminally ill "sponser" and tries to escape to the real world with Jordan.
Although the plot draws heavily on previous stories and films in this genre (Brave New World, We, 1984, The Machine Stops, Blade Runner, Minority Report, I Robot) it has some interesting ideas; the innocence of the strictly-conditioned clones, the deception of the clones "sponsers" that they are vegatative (a warning about a dishonest media/business world?) and the concept that clones could inherit memories from their sponsers. The clearest message perhaps, is that of the cost of trying to achieve immortality or perfection, as it could be argued that we are already moving towards the reality of The Island with extreme cosmetic surgery and transplants which we use to put off death and old age. Although the story is nothing new, it is an up to date contribution to the collection of cautionary sci-fi distopian visions, and with plenty of explosions and car chases to wash down the big ideas. But on to the technical stuff.
There is some quality acting in The Island, with some well-reputed names such as Ewan McGregor (Big Fish), Scarlet Johansson (Ghost World), Sean Bean (Troy) and Steve Buscemi (Resevoir Dogs). Michael Bay likes to think big, and he can be forgiven the blatant product placement as it funded some really great sequences - notably our two heros trapped inside a giant red "R" as it falls off the side of a skyscraper. However I think the trailers and marketing of The Island put too much emphasis on the action side of the film, as it turned out to be a lot more involving and cerebral than I assumed. If the most important element to a script is emotion then The Island fares well, as I found myself wanting Lincoln to find out the truth and escape, shed a tear when one of the characters is killed, and liking Scarlet (who I have only begun to respect since seeing The Prestige). The thing I liked best about the film however, was the lush lush cinematography - the whole film has slightly more than real colours, everything is rich and vivid (which highlights the contrast to the sterile silver facility) and some shots are just gorgeous - a kiss that hides the blinding sun for a moment, the surreal dream sequence, the circling swoop of the camera as the clones emerge in the red Arizona desert...Bay's style here is all about movement and colour, and although this creates a sometimes over-epic feel it suits the big themes of The Island well. Although I feel the multiple explosions could've been replaced with a bit more talking and distopian ponderings, the film was if nothing a joy to look at, and I give it a shiny 4+1/2 stars because although unoriginal, it was really enjoyable.
Emily
I saw this Micheal Bay film in Sainsburys for £3.99 and thought "Ewan McGregor? Why not!" and watched it with an open mind after its slightly unremarkable release. I was pleasantly surprised that although an action based sci-fi film it turned out to be well shot and somewhat thought-provoking. A genetic-engineering angle on the dystopian future genre, the story follows Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) and his friend Jordan Two Delta who are "colonists" in a facility where survivors of a mysterious contamination are taken, in the year 2019. Lincoln's curiosity causes concern for the physician (Sean Bean) and questions the lottery that seems to randomly choose colonists to go to The Island - a utopia which is free of contamination. Anyhow, to cut a long story short without giving away too much - Lincoln finds out he is just a clone manufactured for his terminally ill "sponser" and tries to escape to the real world with Jordan.
Although the plot draws heavily on previous stories and films in this genre (Brave New World, We, 1984, The Machine Stops, Blade Runner, Minority Report, I Robot) it has some interesting ideas; the innocence of the strictly-conditioned clones, the deception of the clones "sponsers" that they are vegatative (a warning about a dishonest media/business world?) and the concept that clones could inherit memories from their sponsers. The clearest message perhaps, is that of the cost of trying to achieve immortality or perfection, as it could be argued that we are already moving towards the reality of The Island with extreme cosmetic surgery and transplants which we use to put off death and old age. Although the story is nothing new, it is an up to date contribution to the collection of cautionary sci-fi distopian visions, and with plenty of explosions and car chases to wash down the big ideas. But on to the technical stuff.
There is some quality acting in The Island, with some well-reputed names such as Ewan McGregor (Big Fish), Scarlet Johansson (Ghost World), Sean Bean (Troy) and Steve Buscemi (Resevoir Dogs). Michael Bay likes to think big, and he can be forgiven the blatant product placement as it funded some really great sequences - notably our two heros trapped inside a giant red "R" as it falls off the side of a skyscraper. However I think the trailers and marketing of The Island put too much emphasis on the action side of the film, as it turned out to be a lot more involving and cerebral than I assumed. If the most important element to a script is emotion then The Island fares well, as I found myself wanting Lincoln to find out the truth and escape, shed a tear when one of the characters is killed, and liking Scarlet (who I have only begun to respect since seeing The Prestige). The thing I liked best about the film however, was the lush lush cinematography - the whole film has slightly more than real colours, everything is rich and vivid (which highlights the contrast to the sterile silver facility) and some shots are just gorgeous - a kiss that hides the blinding sun for a moment, the surreal dream sequence, the circling swoop of the camera as the clones emerge in the red Arizona desert...Bay's style here is all about movement and colour, and although this creates a sometimes over-epic feel it suits the big themes of The Island well. Although I feel the multiple explosions could've been replaced with a bit more talking and distopian ponderings, the film was if nothing a joy to look at, and I give it a shiny 4+1/2 stars because although unoriginal, it was really enjoyable.
Emily