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The Island
(Dreamworks: 2005)
The Island is a movie that never finds enough time to explore its own premises. The films starts off as a
smart sci-fi drama before it turns into a pointless, gratuitous action flick with plot holes so big that I
could drive my Dodge Caravan through them. What could have been a good commentary on modern society turns into
nothing but a big special effects extravaganza.
The opening of the film introduces us to Merrick, a giant, futuristic, underground organization that engages
in dangerous and illegal activities to enslave a group of people. These people don’t even realize that they’re
being enslaved, thanks to constant reminders of a worldwide biological contamination that the company is supposedly
saving them from. According to the big-shots at Merrick, there’s only one known location, “the island,” that’s free
from such biological contaminants. One lucky person at a time will be allowed the opportunity to escape to the island
after being randomly selected in a company lottery that’s held at regular intervals.
Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) is one enslaved individual who does not believe the lies that Merrick feeds him.
After casting some serious doubts upon the legend of worldwide contamination, he and a partner, Jordan Two Delta
(Scarlett Johansson), escape from Merrick and set out to discover the truth about their identities.
The problem here is that Lincoln and Jordan never take the time to reach any serious conclusions or raise any
legitimate questions about themselves or about Merrick’s underhanded business practices. The two characters just
flee to a few big cities and allow a bunch of security personnel to track them down so that the audience gets to
see a lot of bullets and explosions, most of which has little to do with the development of the movie.
It’s amidst this action that the movie loses all of its meaning, focus, and logic, as plot holes continue to thicken.
For instance, how is it possible that such a massive operation as Merrick can send out squads of helicopters and security
officers to large cities, wreaking unfathomable amounts of havoc among civilians as well as police officers,
and still manage to keep its illegal practices hidden from even the slightest criminal investigation?
Or why are some of the security cameras in the Merrick headquarters capable of displaying only rough, blue outlines,
even though the company practically has the technological capabilities of an entire United States military operation?
Obviously, these flaws are excused for the sake of trying to create more action and tension, but it doesn’t lend the
movie any credibility.
The performances in the film don’t lend The Island much credibility, either. Ewan McGregor gives a decent
performance, but the rest of the cast leaves something to be desired, especially Scarlett Johansson in the role of
Jordan Two Delta. Although it’s clearly understood that Jordan is not supposed to be a particularly bright individual,
Scarlett takes her character to an irritatingly dimwitted level. After playing the stereotypical part of a dumb blonde
for almost two hours, Jordan’s only real moment of cunning doesn’t arrive until the tail end of the film.
By the time the tail end of the film has arrived, The Island has overstayed its welcome.
It boasts a 136-minute running time, but the last thirty minutes of the movie could have been entirely cut out
without affecting the outcome of the film. The final half-hour of the movie is just another way to add even more
unneeded action to the movie, while making sure that the film ends on a happy note. An early ending would have been
more gloomy, but it also would have been much more fitting, giving the audience enough room to speculate for
themselves about the future of Merrick’s operations, perhaps even allowing the audience to derive some social
significance from the finale.
Unfortunately, The Island does not allow for such speculation. It would much rather jam innumerable action
sequences down the audiences’ throats and force-feed the audience with its own happy conclusions, regardless of
whether or not all of the loose ends are even tied up. It’s a movie that tosses out thoughtful writing in favor of
pretty visuals. It doesn’t give its audience anything significant to dwell upon. It just treats its audience like
a naive mass.
Score:
(1 Gilligan head out of 5)
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Release Date: 07/22/05
Profanity: Moderate
