THE ISLAND 2005, dir. Michael Bay 127 min., Rated PG-13. Starring: Ewan Macgregor, Scarlett Johanssen, Mr. Pink, The Magic Negro™. Review by Baldy

Okay, we got the kids back last weekend. Between us, we’d managed to see most of the big summer movies. While going to see The Fantastic Four seemed like a good option for a few of the family members (read: the boys and me), Mom was the one who bought the tickets. She had thought that it was going to be a sacrifice, enduring a screening of The Island.

Not so! My wife endured said film, and managed to cry and grab my hand and laugh a little bit while it was showing. She thought that it was going to be only a boy movie, with nothing to offer someone who wasn’t a sci-fi fan. She came out of it saying, “Holy crap! That was way better than I thought it would be.” It’s true. While it wasn’t a revelation, I thought that it was a well-made flick that’s perfect for the summer movie crowd. It won’t break box office records, but it does a good job of breaking the monotony between summer blockbusters that depend on your children to create all of the hype.

Lincoln Six Echo (McGregor) lives in a very controlled world, where all of his needs are met and he has no cares but for the care of his body. All of the people living in this world strive for one end: to go to The Island. There is a lottery held periodically, and those who win are
treated to living on the last place on Earth not contaminated by pathogens. Lincoln is different from the others, though, in that he questions his surroundings. He wonders what life is like outside of his controlled environment. He enjoys the company of Jordan Two Delta (Johansson) and Jones Three Echo (a truly endearing Ethan Phillips). They all make the best of things, knowing that living anywhere but there was impossible.

Lincoln manages to find a butterfly, which leads him to another level of the compound. There, he finds the gruesome truth: there is no Island. Instead, he and all of his friends are “grown” to supply organs or limbs, when needed, to their “sponsors” in the real world. Knowing that Jordan had just won the lottery, he busts her out and they flee to the outside
world.

Okay, that much you could have gathered by watching the previews. What you’re not able to glean from the previews is what made this movie worth watching. The plot overall is easily guessed, but the specifics were done with a fair amount of flair. Ewan McGregor turns in a good performance, though he does his best when Lincoln Six Echo confronts his “sponsor” and the two work off of each other. He does an admirable job of portraying the innocence of a man who has not been taught about sex or God or butterflies or violence. Scarlett Johansson also does well (I think), but it’s really hard to register because I find myself just thinking of a world with TWO Scarlett Johanssons, and it’s easy to get off-track. Michael Clarke Duncan does a great job as Starkweather, the NFL pro who helps Lincoln to find out what the Island really is. THAT is a memorable scene. Djimon Honsou plays the security specialist who is hired to bring in the two “products,” and he is as good as ever. The man brings something to the table every time, and it’s hard to pin down what it is. Sean Bean’s a great and chilling facility director, but he’s not really breaking any new ground there. Perhaps the most memorable performance was turned in by sci-fi veteran Ethan Phillips. He played Jones Three Echo, a man who desperately wants to go to the Island and almost worships those who get to go. His simple belief in the entire system is very endearing, and the camera spends precisely the right amount of time with him.

All things considered, this was a pleasant surprise. I thought that I would like it, my wife would endure it, and the boys would love it. Instead, my wife and I really enjoyed it and the boys thought that it wasn’t as good as Minority Report. Go figure. Honestly, it had enough interesting facets and bits from other films put together well to make it a very watchable amalgam. It wasn’t original, but it was very watchable. I would recommend seeing it on the big screen, but I don’t think that you’ll feel cheated if you just wait for it to hit the dollar movie.

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