I'd read poor reviews of The Island, especially about the weak ending, but compared to War of the Worlds, The Island has nothing at all to worry about on that score. As I wrote in my WotW review, the movie, despite many pleasant surprises, has one of the weakest endings for a long, long time, and far too Hollywood. The Island's ending isn't its best part, but it's not that bad! And everything else makes up for it. The Island is fast paced, has loads and loads of action, and shows one extreme version of a very possible future (albeit with Hollywood style glossing over the actual science). Nice stuff.
Ewan is not too bad in this. He's rough enough to do the action hero stuff, but still looks a bit weedy for the real tough guy scenes. In this case it's not at all bad. A certain rebellious streak is necessary for the character and it works well. Sean Bean is equally good as the intellectual bad guy, but, despite his role in Patriot Games, he still comes across as a bit too nice to be the true nasty man type. Scarlett Johansson has also come a long way since The Horse Whisperer. She can walk again for a start, and breasts are only slightly completely obvious at all times –implants? Socialite Life reported that she went topless in the movie. Not true! She keeps her togs on even in the love scene with Ewan (although they're both virgins at the time so probably didn't think to disrobe anyway). In the odd scene, she even looks attractive. But acting wise, there's a long, long way to go. She has one, and only one, facial expression and it's the same as the Magnum Look from Zoolander: a kind of gormless pout. Happy? Gormless pout. In love? Gormless pout. Terrified to the point of heart seisure? Gormless pout. But, perhaps the true test of an actress of this quality: Sprinting at full tilt for 30 miles under blazing sun: constant gormless pout. So maybe she needs to work on this. I don't think she'll be taking on any roles requiring emotions too soon.
Also, why was it that Scarlett's left cheek was so obviously (and rather amateurishly) airbrushed over in a number of scenes? OK, in the X-Box scene (btw, this movie has more ad placements than an F1 car), she's supposed to have flawless skin as a hologramme, but it is so obvious in the scene at Steve Buscemi's character's house and in several others. The only conclusion is she had an almighty yellow zit on that cheek I guess. Pity we can't do this in real life, eh?
Tags: Movies; The Island; Scarlett Johansson; Ewan McGregor; Sean Bean
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