'00s Trash: The Island (2005)

 Another look back at a Film from my Movie Theater days and boy, does it...exist.

This is The Island, a 2005 Film made by Michael Bay.  This was the middle child between the Bad Boys Films and the Transformers ones.

It shows.

The Plot involves a small society of people living in a strange, artificial utopia.  It turns out to be way worse than they thought.

If you've seen Parts: The Clonus Horror, you know the drill.
If you Directed Parts: The Clonus Horror, you sued them over this Film.  I hope you enjoyed your undisclosed, 7-figure payout.

I have vague memories of this one from walking in and out of Auditoriums playing it for like a month.  I remember it being bright, loud and very bright.

To see if my memories are reliable, read on...

Ewan McGregor lives in what is basically a Utopia and a Prison at the same time.

His day and body are heavily regulated, but he's also safe from 'contamination.'

Why is he questioning this?

The escape from this place is Winning the Lottery and going to The Island.

The latest Winner is Michael Clarke Duncan, who appears in this one just enough to qualify as a Character and nothing more.

McGregor finds some joy with a fellow resident- Scarlet Johansson- but their 'proximity' is also regulated.

He tells the man who runs the Facility- Sean Bean- about his dreams and the details concern him.

He also has a friend - Steve Buscemi- who is not part of the Facility, but is an employee that cleans/maintains the place.

He can't reveal the truth, but he helps him keep question things.

That and he gives him a key.

Using the key, he sneaks into another part of the Facility and discovers two harsh truths.

The pregnant Resident gives birth and is then immediately killed by the Nurses!
Duncan is having an organ harvested, but he wakes up and tries to escape!

There is no Island and everyone here is just a bunch of Clones used for organ harvesting and the like.

We later see a picture of his double in a rare bit of subtlety.

Since Johansson has 'won the Lottery,' he breaks her out of the Facility.

She's hesitant, but fights with him when he's in danger.

They see the new...old World.

A Black Ops Agent- Djimon Hounsou- is hired to bring them back in.
If they see their other, all hell will break loose.

Bean has been breaking lots of laws doing this.

Lots of action and lens flares ensue, including this crash which would be recycled for Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

It turns out that Johansson's original is a Model in a coma with a kid.

McGregor's original is a Designer who needs his kidneys.
Even so, he trusts him to reveal the truth.

This, of course, doesn't happen and we get the biggest scale version of the Spot the Imposter Trope.

He tricks Hounsou into shooting the real one and plans to save the rest of the Clones.

Bean is going to destroy all of the recent Clones, since they are somehow gaining the memories of their originals.

They get back in and kill Bean. 
Yeah, he dies in this too.

With Housou's help, they free the Clones and live happily ever after.
...except for the real Johansson's Son, who is now alone and abandoned.

Did we forget to adopt the kid?

A Film that is full of very excess that you'd expect and a bit of Story (if there's time).

The Plot is pretty minimal here.  Our Leads get like 2 traits and that's it.
The Setting is meant to sound complicated, but it is really simple.

You're seeing this for the Action and there's plenty of it here.  Once they leave the Facility, it is practically non-stop.
The $126 million Budget is visible on-screen.

Also visible is every cliche that you'd expect from a Michael Bay.  This is pure, unrestrained Bay.

Spinning Cameras, Lens Flares, Dramatic Slow Pans of the Horizon, Steam from every Vent, Helicopter Shots.

If you play the Michael Bay Drinking Game, you will die!

21 years later, this is a pretty shallow Film that is a fascinating study of a Director unrestrained by Budgets and Producers.
That's basically it.

Super-duper Lens Flare!

Next time, I celebrate the next Post Milestone.  It's time to finally solve the mystery of...the Zodiac Killer!  Stay tuned...