July 24, 2005
The Island
Ewan McGregor .... Lincoln Six Echo/Tom Lincoln
Scarlett Johansson .... Jordan Two Delta/Sarah Jordan
Sean Bean .... Merrick
Steve Buscemi .... McCord
Djimon Hounsou .... Albert Laurent
Michael Clarke Duncan .... Starkweather
Ethan Phillips .... Jones Three Echo
Brian Stepanek .... Gandu Three Alpha
An summer popcorn action adventure flick that makes you think? Oh yes. That's what The Island is.
Ewan McGreggor plays Lincoln Six Echo, a resident of a facilty of "survivors of a global contamination." The survivors live peacefully and await the results of a lottery that will allow them to leave the facility and go to The Island, which they believe to be the last uncontaminated place on Earth. Lincoln, however, starts to question his existence and evenutally he breaks out of the facility (with Jordan Two Delta) and discovers the truth: that all the "survivors" are really clones.
The rest of the film finds Lincoln and Jordan running for their lives from a man (Djimon Hounsou) hired by the facility owner (Sean Bean).
This is where the action kicks in! Spectacular chase scenes abound in this film. Massive action sequences that kick you in the gut!
And then, as Lincoln and Jordan start to learn more about themselves, so does the audience. This is the thinking part. Are clones alive? Is it right to pay money to have a clone so that you can harvest them for parts?
The acting all around was excellent. Ewan does well in his double role, Bean is menacing as the facility owner who's just trying to save his business, and Steve Buscemi provides some nice comic relief.
I did have a few issues with the film, some of which are semi-spoilers, so I won't be specific but they deal with suspension of disbelief. However, my main issue deals with point of view. This movie does paint a sympathetic picture towards the clones, and somewhat makes the "sponsor" (the person who pays to have a clone of him/herself) and the facility out to be the bad guys. It doesn't present equal points of view from both sides. I guess that wouldn't make for a gripping movie if you weren't sympathetic towards Lincoln and Jordan.
A great action/adventure flick and one that makes you question things. Definitely a must see.