The Island

Now, I'm still not entirely convinced The Island isn't a re-make of something I watched on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (was it called... Clonus? Spare Parts?), but I like the movie, nontheless. But then, it does have Ewan McGregor AND Steve Buscemi! And no. I'm not being sarcastic.

A false reality created for your benefit to hide from you, well, actual reality. I think it's actually a pretty nightmarish idea--and when I say that, I'll add that I actually did have that nightmare once. Lincoln Six-Echo, played by always-adorable McGregor, finds himself a clone in just such a situation. Living in a facility where clones are created, fully grown, in what appear to be very, very large breast implants, Lincoln's recurring nightmares eventually lead to him discovering that the outside world might not actually be contaminated, as he's been lead to believe. And uh-oh: his pretty friend, Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johanssen) may not actually be heading for The Island--the world's last, uncontaminated paradise. Chase scenes ensue!

Although it's part Logan's Run, part... whatever that MST3K movie was, The Island is actually a very good movie, and didn't feel like a rehash to me. To live forever is the new American Dream (the movie takes place in 2019), and for the fabulously wealthy, buying a product (which they believe will be kept in a vegetative state) to provide spare parts could double a life-span! The problem for the cloning company, of course, is when a clone doesn't want to move to "The Island," and turn to have just as strong a will to live as their "real world" counterparts.

McGregor is great as a disgruntled clone (why exactly does everyone in the facility have to wear white?!), and Johanssen is at least better than that gosh-darn Jessica Alba from Fantastic Four (sorry, I bring it up because I have a bit of a hard time telling them apart). Buscemi is delightful, as usual, playing a sort of mechanic from the facility willing to regard Lincoln as more than just a product. The villains are slick, I suppose, although the men sent after the escaped clones do seem a little unbelievably well-equipped... but, naw, I'll let that slide and attribute it to the year being 2019. Anything can happen in The Future!

So... I like it. Acting's solid, effects are good (as in: not all that noticeable). I'm skeptical that vehicles flip/smash/crumble quite so easily, but, except for the shaky camera work, I think the chase scenes are good. You know, as chase scenes go. You can't claim it isn't action-packed, and at least this is one action movie that has thought behind the plot and characters, unlike a certain superhero movie I could name.

Bottom Line: Fast-paced, intelligent action movie with teeth.