“No real method to my madness in picking a film today, although it did take me a while to decide. With all the casting news around the reboot, I considered Fantastic Four. Then I remembered it’s not that great. Just in that cubby, better superhero movie would be X-Men 2. But I wasn’t feeling it. However, it also isn’t the worst superhero movie in the bunch. Hi there Elektra. Something just drew me to The Island. Cheesy but enjoyable, yet unmemorable.
In this Michael Bay directed feature (that tells you something right there) Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johanssen (just around the time they were starting to become A-listers) are living in a very sheltered and regulated environment. They’re told that they’re being protected from a worldwide epidemic, but that one day they’ll be selected by lottery to go to “”the island””, a paradise for survivors. Except that “”THERE IS NO ISLAND THEY JUST KILL PEOPLE”” Sorry, musical theatre reference I had to get in there. Yeah so things aren’t what they seem. These two are actually clones of rich people out in the real world, being grown in a controlled environment for the day that their sponsors need their tissue/organs/whatever. Therefore, jailbreak!
And from there it’s typical Michael Bay, but not to the levels of absurdity as Transformers. The film does pose some interesting questions about humanity, but they’re overshadowed by the people running fast and the things going boom. Still not a bad way to spend a mindless Friday night.”