Movie Review: The Island (2005)
Synopsis: Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta live in a complex with others they believe to be survivors of a global viral pandemic waiting their turn to go to "the island," the last region of the world that is not infected. When Jordan has her name chosen in the lottery, she thinks her dream of going to the island has finally come true. However, an unusually curious Lincoln discovers the truth - there was no pandemic and the lottery "winners" are instead being chosen to have their organs harvested.
Who's in it? The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Ewan McGregor, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Michael Clarke Duncan and Steve Buscemi.
Review: I was in the mood to watch a movie yesterday evening and looked for one while my wife took a shower. I was undecided about some of the newer movies so decided to keep things simple and pick out an old favorite, The Island. It had been a while since I last watched this movie, and I was surprised by a few things I had forgotten about. However, it proved to be a great choice once again.
I think the thing that makes this movie so interesting is, while it may seem a bit farfetched, the concept is something that doesn't seem that far off from the truth. I mean, I would like to think a business that makes millions of dollars off the ultra-rich by creating clones for organ harvesting, childbearing, etc. wouldn't be able to stay in business but I think we all know better than that.
Plus, the movie does a great job of explaining how that kind of business could operate without the general or government knowing the real truth, even though you do need to suspend some disbelief when it comes to the number of people who would need to keep their mouths shut.
The thing that won both of us over though is the chemistry between Lincoln (McGregor) and Jordan (Johansson) as they go from being platonic friends, to escaped "product" being chased by an army of black ops soldiers to lovers. This movie might have still be decent without that, but it gave the film a human element that I think elevated it to a whole new level. Or, as my wife likes to describe it, a performance that gave her a big crush on Johansson that sticks even today.
As we re-watched this, I was also pleasantly surprised to rediscover just how much action is in this movie. It probably shouldn't have surprised me when Michael Bay was the director but the various explosions and near-death situations the pair found themselves in kept the movie exciting even though it did seem like the exact opposite of what the main bad guy, Dr. Merrick (Bean) wanted when he wanted the two missing clones quietly captured.
There was also a nice actioned-packed ending as the pair realized they were putting their friends back at the facility at risk and decided to try to save them too. The near-impossible task combined with one surprise betrayal in their favor made it fun and satisfying to watch while still leaving enough up in the air to leave what happened next to your imagination.
My only real negative with the film is parts admittedly don't age well. For example, the film's version of 2019 features flying trains and motorcycles along with other futuristic technology that doesn't exist yet. Not to mention, I think the only reason the plot was able to happen was because the writers didn't anticipate the impact of social media by that stage in our history. As I mentioned before, a whole lot of people, from the higher ups to the cafeteria workers, needed to keep their mouth shut for the cloning to happen and I just don't see that happening in world with Facebook and other sites.
Final Opinion: The movie does have a few flaws, mostly because of the decision to pick a date in the near future rather than further down the road. However, it is a fun and exciting film that his helped considerably by its stars and is a movie that still remains on top our list of shared favorites.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 2005:
Movie Review: Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
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