the island | dvd purchase

as i said to a friend of mine – never underestimate hollywood’s ability to create absolute rubbish.

i never expect good film from hollywood anymore. if i get it, i’m pleasantly surprised – otherwise i know what i’m in for – simplistic and overused narrative and ideas, substandard acting, and lots of pretty things to look at.

the first twenty minutes or so of this movie (no – no it’s not a film) are brilliant. what i appreciated the most from the island were the sets. so much effort went into them, and they truly looked fantastic. whether they were built for the film or shot on location somewhere, the environments just looked brilliant – you’ll have to excuse my lack of knowledge on such things, as i don’t watch television and would not have been exposed to the probable myriad of ‘making of’ features that have most likely aired on this feature.
unfortunately, we don’t spend much time in the facility, and alas, wonder off into the desert and eventually semi-futuristic LA. which is all plain to say the least.

bullet-time now being horrendously overused, the fashion now is shakey photography – you know, to really put you in the action!!! it’s what young people want these days!!! – and ridiculous stunts – bad guys getting painfully clotheslined by road-signs while flying their aerobatic motorcycles, and good guys miraculously surviving falling from a many stories high skyscraper. etc. lots of moments where the audience says ‘phwoar!’ in a loud voice. well – at least it was commical.

Ewan McGregor and Scarlet Johanson for the most part look and act brilliantly – inane scripts notwithstanding. for the first part of the film they present very very well, and i must say that since ‘lost in translation’, i’ve been very much in love with Ms. Johanson – she’s very attractive, and acts well to my liking – as per the not television watching denoted earlier, you’ll have to excuse me for being ignorant of any possible bizare famous-person behaviour in public should she have carried out any.

unfortunately, the film ends up being about guns and very loud noises. as i said to chibi-r the night after watching it, the movie sounded like a small child was placed in a glassware store, given a golf-club and told ‘see if you can hit the moth! now swing!’ i’m becoming increasingly irritated by the numerous explosions and general crashing ruckus that is so common in hollywood these days. i can just see a re-make of Jane Austin’s ‘Emma’ coming directed by Joel Schumacher with an all explosive action packed gun shooting car chasing singing dancing spectacular. i’m beginning to thing these people couldn’t make a breakfast cereal commercial without explosives and at least a house-worth of windows smashing all at once – at maximum volume.

in any case, i’m not a hater of action films, loud explosions or crashing abandon. ‘james bond’ films are by no means any more intelligent, but at least they carry their own sense of fun, and that they aren’t really trying to be too serious about it. ‘the island’ had an interesting and intriguing premise, and it very well could have been something more like ‘solaris’ or ‘gattaca’ than something which tries very much to be serious, and fails dismally through its ridiculous narrative. and just when i thought the thing would end, it had to carry the movie even lower and have a showdown between the good guy and the bad.

now from my comments it may sound like i had a horrid time and was terribly disappointed, but to be honest, i wasn’t expecting any more than what the movie turned out to be. i went in with the approach that at most i’d come away with great sets, some interesting vis fx and wacky stunts – and i got what i wanted to pay for. (being tight-arsed tuesdays, not full price thank god).

the most disconcerting thing was that at the conclusion of the feature as the credits rolled, the audience applauded.
this in now way resotres my already feeble faith in humanity at all.
come on people – this is bad cinema. you’re better than this – you’re more intelligent than this.

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in other news, i bit the bullet and purchased ‘the life aquatic’ on dvd at full price, as being an ‘art’ (rolls eyes) film, it most likely won’t be discounted for quite some time.