Escape to the Island

I saw the movie "The Island" today. I enjoyed it.

Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan 2 Delta (Scarlett Johanssen) live in a very safe but bland utopia. The purpose of their lives is to work, be happy, and wait for a chance to win the lottery and go to the "Island" where they will live happily ever after.

Lincoln 6 Echo starts to ask questions: why can't we go outside? Why does everyone have to wear white? Isn't there more to life? Unhappy with the official answers, Lincoln 6 Echo starts to secretly explore the forbidden areas of the city. The rest of the movie is a chase scene with the bad guys trying to kill Lincoln 6 Echo and Jordan 2 Delta.

This is an action packed, slick movie that goes from 0 to 60 once we get the background information out of the way. Director Michael Bay ("The Rock," "Armageddon," and "Bad Boys") knows how to pace his movies and orchestrates one of the best chase scenes I've ever seen.

The acting was good but not exceptional. But this was a summer action movie not Shakespeare.

Djimon Hounsou stole some of the scenes as the mercenary hunting Lincoln 6 Echo and Jordan 2 Delta. You may remember Hounsou when he played Juba in the movie "Gladiator." Juba was Maximus's friend. This is an extraordinary actor who I would like to see in more movies.

And another actor I love to watch is Steve Buscemi. I've seen him in a hundred movies and I've enjoyed his performances time after time. You may remember him as the short, skinny kidnapper Carl in the movie "Fargo."

Another actor I would like to see more of is Michael Clarke Duncan (Starkweather). You may remember him as the gentle giant of an inmate in the movie "The Green Mile." But unfortunately, there just aren't a lot of roles for this big guy.

Is this a perfect movie? No, the plot is a little weak and is very, very similar to the 1976 movie "Logan's Run" starring Michael York. One unintentionally funny scene was a long camera shot that showed Jordan 2 Delta wearing high heels after outrunning the bad guys. Not only did I notice it but other people in the audience talked about it too.

Again, this is a great popcorn movie and roller coaster ride. If I had to rank my last three movies, I would recommend:
"The Island" See this first.
"War of the Worlds" See this second.
"Batman Begins" See this last.