"The Island" is almost like two movies in one, with the first half being Orwellian sci-fi and the second half being a futuristic action flick. It would have been cool to see this movie knowing only about the first half, so then the second half would have been an interesting surprise. Then again, if the trailers didn't show any of the action, it's doubtful that the movie would make much money. Besides, the fact that it's directed by Michael Bay makes it pretty obvious that the movie will have its fair share of chases and explosions. I know that a lotta critics (and film geeks) give Michael Bay a hard time, but I happen to like his movies. They may not be very poetic, but they entertain me and they look pretty.
This is Michael Bay's sixth feature film, the first five being (in order) "Bad Boys," "The Rock," "Armageddon," "Pearl Harbor," and "Bad Boys II," and I like every single one. None of them are great, and all of them are flawed, but each of them entertained me. I walked into "The Island" knowing exactly what kind of movie to expect, and I got it. That's it. You either like Michael Bay's movies or you don't, me personally, I like them.
Ewan McGregor stars in the film, and he's great in it. In every movie he's in, McGregor has a charm that makes it hard not to like whatever character he plays. Hell, he's one of the few actors in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy who could make George Lucas' shitty dialogue seem a lot better than it really is. Ewan McGregor kicks ass. Also in the film is Scarlett Johansson, who I've recently trashed a little bit, because I think she's an overrated actress. It's just that based on the last few movies I've seen her in, she seems very limited, with every expression being variations of pensive. In "The Island," she finally opens up and surprises me. In every movie I've seen her in, she played the same type of character, but here, she's totally different, and that's refreshing. Hopefully all of her future roles will feature this new Scarlett Johansson. She's really hot, by the way. Well, the old Scarlett Johansson was hot, too, but you know what I mean.
Also in the film are Steve Buscemi and Michael Clarke Duncan (both of whom were in Michael Bay's "Armageddon"), and even though their roles are small, they add a whole lot to the movie. Sean Bean plays the villain, and he's very good, but he's played the villain so often that it's almost a joke now. Whenever a movie needs a villain with a European accent, they call Sean Bean. He's really good at it, though.
The script was written by three guys, one of whom is Caspian Tredwell-Owen. His only other writing credit is for the Angelina Jolie/Clive Owen film, "Beyond Borders," which I never saw. The other two writers were Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, a writing team that works on the TV show "Alias." This is their first first produced feature film screenplay. The script was pretty good, though it was filled with flaws in logic, and it was very far fetched. A lot of that is Michael Bay's fault, though. He writes his own action sequences, and that's where some of the flaws in logic and far fetched stuff comes in.
I should point out that "The Island" is the first Michael Bay movie not produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. That does not mean, however, that we're getting a more cerebral film, especially since it's sci-fi. Nope, it's still the same old Michael Bay. Leave your brain at home, sit back, and enjoy. You might actually like it.
Scale of 1-10: 8