Underrated movie of the week: The Island

Howdy! This is, if I can actually make a deadline, the first in a weekly series of notes about underrated films, the ones that have been swept under the rug, or people have never heard of, or ones that critics didn't like and didn't make much money, but I consider good and thus am defending them so that anyone who reads this can give the film a second chance to check it out and see what they're missing.

Now, for my first review, I chose Micheal Bay's "The Island" (2005), a film that, despite it's $125 million budget, tanked in North America's box office and critics bombed (much like Bay's previous films, "The Rock" excluded). However, the film is probably Bay's best (at least up there with "The Rock"). The film combines elements of Logan's Run, The Truman Show, Blade Runner, and classic Micheal Bay style with a science fiction element as in the near future a large group of "survivors" inside a colony (Ewen McGregor, and Scarlett Johansson included) believe that they are the only survivors of a outbreak that has decimated the earth, hiding in a futuristic site where everything is clean, advertisements for X-Box to Aquafina surround the environment, and everyone has the mental capacity of a 15 year old. However, nothing is what it seems; The reward of the lottery is one lucky person within this group gets to go to The Island: The only non-contaminated place on the earth. However these people are not survivors, but rather clones used for insurance to extend the lives and health of the worlds very rich when they are needed for organs. As Lincoln (McGregor) starts questioning the facility and the lottery, eventually discovering what "The Island" actually is, he runs with Jordon (Johansson), discovering the outside world and how different it is from their "perfect" existence inside the facility. However, the ring leader of this facility (Sean Bean) doesn't want the outside world to know that these clones are alive, (society simply believes that these clones are not alive, bringing forth the Stem cell debate in an interesting way) and thus send assassins to hunt down Lincoln and Jordon, leading to some breathtaking action sequences.

What makes this film better then not only the previous films from the director, but also from what the critics have said is that: yes there is a lot of product placement, yes as I have mentioned the plot harkens to films such as Logan's Run and Blade Runner, and yes this film has that classic Bay visual style. However, all of this plays in the films favour.

With exceptionally beautiful cinematography (as much as you may hate Micheal Bay, you have to admit his films look beautiful), "The Island" takes these better films, and is still able to mold it's plot into something interesting in concept and execution. Written by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (from Tv's Fringe, and writers of Transformers 1 & 2, M:I-3, and the most recent Star Trek film) "The Island" makes what is arguably the most interesting plot from Bay's filmography, or at least the most complex, with McGregor and Johansson playing their characters a spot above Bay's typical acting. (perhaps because they are not typical actions stars like Will Smith and Ben Affleck are), allowing the audience to genuinely like and care about these characters without stilted action acting to hurt their performances. The action scenes are also something truey breathtaking (much like the filmmakers previous works, something that any viewer has to admit, Bay's action sequences are one of the few things he does really well) Although the first real action scene doesn't begin until a little more than an hour in, it last a hell of a long time: going from a train station, through city streets, to a highway where train axels are being thrown into oncoming cars chasing our heroes, to a hoverbike chase through the skyscrapers of the city, and climaxing on top of a giant logo on a office building which comes down. Phew! This scene is probably one of the best action scenes I've seen in a long time, it's pure kenetic and breathtaking action that you've never seen before: not just in terms of the execution of the action and it's extended length, but also in terms of the incredible amounts of visual effects that play off so well. From Hoverbikes, to the city of the near future, to trains and holographic fighting, ILM's visual effects work (from the same group of VFX supervisors that did Bay's Pearl Harbour, and got a oscar nomination for that work), the detail in each shot, and having the effects make the action even more breathtaking makes the film worth a look alone. If that doesn't entice you, there's always the cameo's: From Micheal Clark Duncan playing a brawly scared clone of a football player, to Steve Buscemi playing...what I can only describe as himself, and letting the comedy that comes out of all of his roles come out naturally.

Overall, it might not be the best science fiction film ever, or best action film ever, but it's damn fun entertainment and is absolutely an underrated movie from Micheal Bay, and for popcorn entertainment with a plot that is interesting, " The Island", although the lowest grossing of the directors films, is probably one of his best works. The beginning is pure science fiction, with the middle being simply a chase movie, and the End of the film merging the previous two genres into a ending that is, although satisfying, is slightly cliche, but doesn't bring down the rest of the film that much. For it's 2 hour 15 minute run time, its a hell of a fun ride, and although it's not a brilliant film, it's better then the criticism it's gotten and deserves another chance. I'd give it 3.5 stars out of 5, maybe even a full 4th star.