The Island is an interesting movie in that the premise of it is so plausible that it is almost frightening. The movie is based on this idea that clones of humans can be made for the purpose of being a backup for their originals, that is if the original were to get hurt or have an organ failure, the backup could be harvested (killed) and their organs taken. Bioethically this is impossible as any experiments involving humans has a significant amount of red tape around it, but the movie toys around with the idea that there could be people just rich enough to get past those protective measures. The scary thing is on some level it is beginning to become true in our society as we find out that American laws do not stretch across an international field such as stem cells. Technologically, The Island is close to reality…while the movie does throw in a few fantastic ideas, holographic projectors and such, much of the technology needed to clone a human does in fact exist.

The plot is a bit all too Brave New World-like, the main character, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) starts to question his extremely limited existence and after going through a few maintenance shafts, he manages to view the truth, that he and the others he has known his whole life exist primarily for the purpose of being organ back-ups for their rich clients in the “real world”. Fearful of his friend, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) who is next in line to go to “the island” (a moniker for harvesting that person for their organs), he takes her on a wild chase to escape the facility, find their true counterparts in the real world and hopefully reveal the truth.

There is nothing horribly original about it all, so it ends up a matter of execution. With Michael Bay at the head, who has credits from movies like The Rock and Armageddon, it does become an action packed ride. Most of the movie is comprised of a nearly seamless chase scene, with a lovely prototype car somewhere along the line, and an impossible “one in a million” fall from a building that miraculously leaves our main characters alive. Much of the action consists of running from one room, to the next, to the next, and on and on for many miles. The characters possess the uncanny ability of being world-class track-runners and dodge everything from bullets, to helicopters in their journey to find the right people to contact.

It’s an adrenaline rush, and is most certainly a movie with a sizable budget. Never did I once feel like they really skimped on the special effects and establishing the locations, which tended to be vast and futuristic. It really is a shame though that the effects do not quite cut it though. The action while it is solid, seems a bit too drawn out for its own good, and takes up probably half the film’s length.

Ultimately, there is a bit too much moving around, and too little time developing the important issues at stake, the bioethics, the potential solution to their problems, and so on. The protagonists stumble around aimlessly, Lincoln manages to find his counterpart, and then the two clones also get involved in a love relationship with one another in a celebration of “what makes us human” (or sex apparently). It’s all too convenient. The twist at the end is actually a bit interesting when the movie takes a breather and encounters a place where it could possibly end, but the characters decide ultimately that it is not fitting for them to simply live comfortably, but that they must expose the truth and end the use of clones as “insurance policies”. The only problem is the execution is brash, and done in an all too expected, “let’s blow it up” style, the typical solution to most things in Hollywood. And because of that, what could have been a far smarter more interesting movie, fails, because rather than come up with witty, interesting dialogue, and a clever plan, the movie takes the convenient route, which is simply to blow up everything.

This leads to an all too cliché firework like ending, where things blow up, clones are liberated, and the world becomes just a bit too happy for my tastes. I grimaced and watched a potentially good movie go to waste. The Island is still entertaining, it still has fantastically interesting sci-fi moments that make it worth watching (such as the room with all the humans having their memories implanted), but it just lacks the intelligence edge to put it above from being a B sci-fi flick. It’s still fun though to watch McGregor and Johansson act, they both do pull off the “I’m an innocent clone” look all too well, and the action, despite extended to ridiculous lengths, is entertaining enough. I’d rent this one with some reservations.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older