July 23, 2005 -- “The Island” is a combination science fiction and action adventure along the lines of “Total Recall,” “The Sixth Day” and “Robocop,” only not as gory. This is definitely a summer popcorn movie with plenty of mindless action, but it also advances some thought-provoking ideas on what it means to be human. It also weighs in on the controversial issue of human cloning. Unlike some so-called science fiction movies, like the “Star Wars” series, the story is about real science and relevant social issues.

The story centers around Lincoln Six Echo (played by Ewan McGregor of “Big Fish”), who works in an unfulfilling job and wears a uniform. He lives in a tightly-controlled environment where there is no room for love, family or children. He is among the last humans alive on earth following some sort of enviornmental catastrophe. The only hope of escaping this mind-numbing enclosed utopia is to win the lottery and be shipped to The Island, an ecological paradise where people can be free.

Lincoln Six Echo makes a series of observations about his environment and decides that a lot of things don't add up. When he finally discovers the horrible truth about his life, and The Island, he and his friend, Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson of “Lost in Translation”) make a desperate run for freedom. When this happens, the movie turns into one long car chase, with lots of bullets and explosions. This action stuff is director Michael Bay's (“Pearl Harbor”) specialty. The stunt work is splendid with lots of spectacular car crashes, explosions and other difficult stunts coordinated by Kenny Bates and Kurt Bryant (“The Italian Job”).

The acting, by a talented cast of McGreggor, Johansson, Steve Buscemi, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean and Michael Clarke Duncan, is solid. The science is inaccurate in some cases. We are asked to believe, for instance that clones of people would share the same memories, the same fingerprints and the same retinal patterns as the original person. In fact, clones would share none of those traits with the person they are copied from. Identical twins, for instance, don't share those traits with each other even though they share the same DNA. Cloning is not like making copies on a copy machine. We are also asked to believe that you can grow a human being to adulthood in only two or three years (a common fiction in science fiction movies). We are also asked to believe that poorly-educated people with no experience in the real world would be able to outsmart and out-duel a whole army of highly-trained professional killers. Only in an action movie could such ill-equipped, clueless people become instant super heroes.

While this isn't top flight science fiction, at least it is real science fiction. That is, it takes a scientific premise to its logical conclusion and uses that premise to make a relevent social statement. As an action film, it is not particularly believable, but since when is that a real problem with summer popcorn movies? When you see a summer action movie you are looking for entertainment, not moral lectures or a depressing essay on the meaninglessness of existence, regardless how edgy some critics think that might be. This movie delivers on the entertainment level well enough. It rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2005 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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