The Island, ***
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johannson, Djimon Hounsou, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi, Michael Clarke Duncan, Ethan Phillips, Brian Stepanek, Noa Tishby
Rated: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language.

I must begin by saying that when I first heard of this movie, the very thought of two Ewan McGregors walking around made me squee like a fat kid with candy. However, when I actually went to see the movie, what I found was much more than just sexy.


It had a plot very likened to its director, Michael Bay. (If you’ve seen Armageddon or Bad Boys, you have a pretty general idea what The Island is about – that’s right, blowing things up.) And some of the camera shots just… like, whoa… With so much eye candy flying around the screen, most summer movies have difficulty coming up with some meaning in their plots. That is where I found this particular movie highly underrated. Approaching hard-to-answer questions, mostly dealing with the rights and wrongs of cloning, The Island brings a deeper meaning to itself.

Both Ewan McGregor (as Lincoln Six-Echo) and Scarlett Johannson (as Jordan Two-Delta) deliver performances that are sweetly and intoxicatingly innocent to the point where the audience is nearly dying for some smut. Sean Bean (Dr. John Merrick) plays his role well, taking on the form of the antagonist who acts as God. The only place I found this movie truly lacking was that it was very much a summer movie, made to mesmerize the audience for a few hours with lots of explosions, pretty people, and some cheesy music blasting away in the background at the end. It could have done without the cheese.

I recommend this movie as one of the top choices this summer. It takes you in, serves you dinner, completely ravishes you, and sends you on your way. Wonderful.