[Plot spoiler]
Lincoln Six-Echo (McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island," reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones whose only purpose is to provide "spare parts" for their original human counterparts. Realizing it is only a matter of time before he is "harvested," Lincoln makes a daring escape with a fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Johansson). Pursued by the forces of the institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.
Genres: Action/Adventure and Thriller
Release Date: July 22nd, 2005 (wide).
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language.
Distributor: Dreamworks SKG
Cast and Credits
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi
Directed by: Michael Bay
Produced by: Laurie MacDonald, Walter F. Parkes, Ian Bryce
A little backstory on how I saw this flick last night: the girlfriend wants to see some girly movie with Diane Lane. Then she hears it's lame and says we should go to Charlie & The Chocolate Factory. Then she hears it's lame and it's time for Bad News Bears. Just before we go, she mentions checking The Island. The previews looked alright, and since I have a soft spot for sci-fi, I agreed. Man, I was I glad I did.
The Island is a really fresh sci-fi story with a shot of that sweet, sweet Michael Bay appettite for destruction. From that loveable bastard responsible for The Rock, Armageddon and Bad Boys comes yet another action packed smackdown for the senses. Awesome special effects, solid story, solid acting.
The movie seems to shift from the sci-fi drama gear to shoot-em' up free-for-all at a whim, but it works for my taste. Perfect blend of story and action. It does leave a lot of questions and leaves the viewer invariably wanting more, but I've always said that's a good thing. When a movie has people talking about what happens to the characters, I think the filmmakers did a good job.
Sci-fi fans will like it. Action junkies in the Michael Bay vein will like it. At the very least you can soak in a good popcorn movie for a few hours.
This was a good movie. The action was really well done. The humour was injected into good places. I will watch this again on DVD.
When is Djimon Hounsou gonna get a starring role? That guy is S-I-C-K! He looks like he's holding back the wrath of God behind his eyes. Like he could just snap at any moment and rip a man up into a thousand pieces. If he has any hand-to-hand fighting talent, he needs to get into action movies as a lead man. I'd go to see anything he's in, cuz he's got a crazy intensity that is totally his own.
That being said, I was disappointed a bit in his character's choices. The reasons behind his choices weren't expressed thoroughly enough for my liking. Other than that, I say this movie was rather good. One of the best I've seen all year.
The purging was a strange thing, but kinda explained in the part where Ewan's character 'goes back' to get things done again... Not well enough though, seeing as how long the whole 'process' can take...
How about Michael Clarke Duncan's character in the hospital? That was freaky, after what they did to his chest.
I want me one of those flying crafts...
The other mass transit systems wouldn't be there in that amount in 14 years. Something called 'fiscal responsibility' and a man who says 'Caulifownia' probably wouldn't allow it to that extent.
The hover bikes were sweet. I want a Scarlett Johansson clone though.
I thought the real Lincoln and Jordan would be super-famous, would have given the characters some funny moments when they were out in the 'real world'. But I suppose if they were recognized that easy the plot would go to hell.
A few more plot twists would have been sweet, too. Not complaining though.
I have been wanting to see this movie ever since the trailer came out. Some critics were surprised that Michael Bay could produce such a thought-provoking movie.
In fact, since I notice it in everything now, it's just become commonplace for me, and I usually don't mention it, unless they did something kinda creative and cool in placing the products...
I would say that nowdays product placement looks natural. You see all these things around everyday after all.
The worst in-your-face shameless advertising was in Batman and Robin when George Clooney pulls out a credit card to pay for Uma Therman. During that shot they focused exculsively on the card.
I know of other movies where they'd put in a slogan or something for a product, like: "American Express: Don't leave home without it."
They need to put in a Mentos commercial placement, incorporated into the movie's action somehow. I mean the whole commercial, with the person posing, holding up the mentos pack, after doing something ridiculous, like they're blaming their spontaneously idiotic behaviour on the Mentos, and then some voice should say the slogan: "Mentos, the fresh-maker."
Hopefully they collected a lot of cash for those product placements. A $150 million to make and it's only taken in about $30. Sad.
Overseas and DVD sales have to be insane for them to even come close to breaking even. Doubt it will happen.
As for good product placement, Budweiser decided to open the pocketbook for the first time in over a decade to be tied to a movie... Wedding Crashers. Talk about good timing.
