For a Michael Bay film, I thought The Island was pretty solid. Obviously, it looks slick, and the world-building at the front kept my interest long enough for me to want to follow Ewan McGregor's character through the obvious "rebellion from utopia/dystopia" brewing, and what seemed like mistakes (the laughably unsubtle product placement, for example), is eventually explained. With stories about a regimented society where you can win a ticket to the one uncontaminated "island", you know either the contamination will turn out to be fake, or the promised paradise is just a metaphor for death, or both, so really, even if the script (or Bay) had been interested in actually digging deeper into the surface theme of the Top 1% vs. the bottom 99, it's not like that would have been very original. So let it all happen, and enjoy the crazy action scenes when they happen. If I give the film a higher score than I might have normally, it's because of the stars, all very watchable and making me believe in this reality - McGregor of course, Scarlett Johansson as his partner in rebellion, Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou's heavies, Steve Buscemi as the Jo Blo ally, Ethan Phillips' conspiracy theorist, and Michael Clarke Duncan as the first "ticket winner" we see. It's shallow, but it looks cool, and has a better acting pedigree than required.
couldn't believe how similar some of the shots and photography are to the transformers movies - it's like he rehashed these locations/scenes 2 years later...
I think this is a great movie. I loved the whole idea and the story. The film has a nice pace, an appealing visual style and great actors. Even the actors cast in the supporting roles were lovely. Scarlett Johansson was good, Ewan McGregor was great. This was another opportuity for him to show that he can portray someone very innocent and sweet as well as a mean and deceitful person. I also liked Sean Bean a lot.
Well that was a surprise... a Michael Bay movie that didn't make me want to poke my eyes out - pretty good! It's curious that it was also his least successful.
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Comments 1 - 15 of 18
devilsadvocado
This one was surprisingly good up until the point it became just one giant action-packed chase scene.JackRabbitSlims
I agree with smith1979.Good plot and good performances, but it lost some of it's magic once they escaped and things started exploding.
Vinokourov
This movie is also pretty good for Bay-standards. Lots of entertainment and Scarlett!Siskoid
For a Michael Bay film, I thought The Island was pretty solid. Obviously, it looks slick, and the world-building at the front kept my interest long enough for me to want to follow Ewan McGregor's character through the obvious "rebellion from utopia/dystopia" brewing, and what seemed like mistakes (the laughably unsubtle product placement, for example), is eventually explained. With stories about a regimented society where you can win a ticket to the one uncontaminated "island", you know either the contamination will turn out to be fake, or the promised paradise is just a metaphor for death, or both, so really, even if the script (or Bay) had been interested in actually digging deeper into the surface theme of the Top 1% vs. the bottom 99, it's not like that would have been very original. So let it all happen, and enjoy the crazy action scenes when they happen. If I give the film a higher score than I might have normally, it's because of the stars, all very watchable and making me believe in this reality - McGregor of course, Scarlett Johansson as his partner in rebellion, Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou's heavies, Steve Buscemi as the Jo Blo ally, Ethan Phillips' conspiracy theorist, and Michael Clarke Duncan as the first "ticket winner" we see. It's shallow, but it looks cool, and has a better acting pedigree than required.royalspikey77
couldn't believe how similar some of the shots and photography are to the transformers movies - it's like he rehashed these locations/scenes 2 years later...IreneAdler
I think this is a great movie. I loved the whole idea and the story. The film has a nice pace, an appealing visual style and great actors. Even the actors cast in the supporting roles were lovely. Scarlett Johansson was good, Ewan McGregor was great. This was another opportuity for him to show that he can portray someone very innocent and sweet as well as a mean and deceitful person. I also liked Sean Bean a lot.Chikamaharry
Scarlett Johansonkrisflushednemo
AWESOMEDieguito
Okeysilhuzz
ScarJo made it worthwiledombrewer
Well that was a surprise... a Michael Bay movie that didn't make me want to poke my eyes out - pretty good! It's curious that it was also his least successful.halftome
Amazing movie, one of my top favoritesBerrymcgregor
Any movie with 2 Ewans is a five star.losmartacos
Very good movie, just surprisingly goodpepijnkoning
When I've looked this movie for the first time I was not expecting much of it, it turned out to be a very entertaining movie!Showing items 1 – 15 of 18