The Island (2005)
6/10
Stylish, But Not What I Expected
12 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Scientists creating "clones" are the villains in this movie and they make them in the future to provide their human counterparts replacements for defective body parts. The only problem is that one of the clones (Ewan McGregor) starts to become human with feelings, emotions, etc. He is then joined by a female clone (Scarlett Johansson) and the two them try to escape their surrounds - a prison- like laboratory in the middle of the desert in the U. S. A.

These clones are promised freedom with a lottery-type trip to "The Island" but that is all a mirage as our heroes find out. The last half of the film is them on the run, trying to tell someone what the truth is all about with this project and all the while escaping an army of pursuers.

I was expecting more of a lower-key, intelligent story but this turned out to be an Arnold Schwarzenegger-type action movie, which isn't all bad because Arnold's films were at least entertaining. This has the same stuff: outrageous scenes in which incredible things happen to the heroes....like assassins shooting at them from 30 feet away and never hitting them or falling from tall buildings....and never getting hurt! These two leads have nothing on Superman. They are indestructible, apparently. It's lunacy....but it certainly has it's fun moments with some tremendous stunt work.

To me, the best aspect of this film was the stylish camera-work. There are some really, really nice visuals in this presentation, and good sound. Overall, entertaining but just another wild-adventure action movie that's okay but nothing super.
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