`ISLAND' LEAVES FANS OF SMART SCI FI STRANDED.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic IN ``THE ISLAND,'' filmmaker Michael Bay asks what it means to be human, a funny question for a guy whose movies have never actually contained characters that approximate flesh-and-blood creations. Connoisseurs of Bay's brand of ear-shattering, brain-battering cinema should rest easy, though. ``The Island'' just goes through the motions of philosophical inquiry until Bay can let loose and do what he does best - blow stuff up. This he does for the better part of an hour until feeling compelled to deliver some sort of answer to the Big Questions posed in the film's first act. To summarize his conclusion: Scientists bad. Very, very bad. The first part of the movie takes place inside a hermetically her·met·ic also her·met·i·cal adj. 1. Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air. 2. Impervious to outside interference or influence: sealed world where survivors of some cataclysmic cat·a·clysm n. 1. A violent upheaval that causes great destruction or brings about a fundamental change. 2. A violent and sudden change in the earth's crust. 3. A devastating flood. contamination live in grim sterility. The inhabitants
The game is based loosely on the concepts from SameGame. wear spotlessly clean, form-fitting body suits (Bay doesn't require star Scarlett Johansson to act - just to look like a porn star; she obliges) and are instructed to be polite, pleasant and peaceful. Physical contact between the sexes is frowned upon. Via lottery, a lucky few are allowed to leave and go to The Island, an Edenic bastion where one can wile away the time by, I suppose, sipping rum drinks with funny little umbrellas and, hopefully, being allowed to indulge in a little indiscreet in·dis·creet adj. Lacking discretion; injudicious: an indiscreet remark. in , consensual groping grope v. groped, grop·ing, gropes v.intr. 1. To reach about uncertainly; feel one's way: groped for the telephone. 2. . One resident, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) questions the justness of all this, particularly since he would like to commence groping straightaway straight·a·way adj. 1. Extending in a straight line or course without a curve or turn. 2. Unhesitating; immediate: a straightaway denial. n. with Jordan Two Delta (Johansson). All in good time, young man. After establishing this civilization, Bay bids it a fond farewell, putting his two protagonists on the road and on the run, where they prove extremely quick studies for a couple of innocents who begin their Journey To Truth looking at the world in the same literal-minded way that Tom Hanks did in ``Big.'' There are a great many chases, several shoot-outs and a dollop of Holocaust imagery gratuitously thrown in to give the enterprise some import. What ideas Bay and screenwriters Caspian Tredwell Owen (``Beyond Borders,'' gulp), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci come up with (i.e., steal from other sci-fi movies) are examined in much the same way a 2-year-old will pick up something shiny for a few seconds and then toss it so he can find the next sparkly spark·ly adj. spark·li·er, spark·li·est 1. a. Giving off tiny flashes of light; glittery: a dress with sparkly sequins. b. thing. In other words Adv. 1. in other words - otherwise stated; "in other words, we are broke" put differently : Pure Bay. Utterly soulless soul·less adj. Lacking sensitivity or the capacity for deep feeling. soul  less·ly adv. . Earplugs optional.
Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com THE ISLAND - Two stars (PG-13: intense violence, some sexuality, language) Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson. Director: Michael Bay. Running time: 2 hr. 18 min. Playing: In wide release. In a nutshell: Big ideas and big explosions from Michael Bay. You know the drill. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson) and Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) hide from sinister forces in Michael Bay's futuristic thriller ``The Island.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion