There's nothing like a good sci-fi action thriller to get the blood boiling! And this movie is good. Ewan McGregor is good as a captive of an evil conglomerate, displaying the wide-eyed innocent grin we haven't seen since Big Fish. Scarlett Johansen is good as his wide-eyed, innocent love interest. Sean Bean is good as the quintessential evil villain, and Steve Buscemi is good as the hapless grunt who gets caught in the middle. Even the guy from Voyager is good without his Nelix makeup as another wide-eyed innocent. The special effects are good too. What prevents The Island from being great is its absolute predictability, only broken by the ever suave Djimon Hounsou who manages to do something unexpected. Keeping right and wrong firmly separated in this way may be oversimplistic, especially with summer blockbusters, but it's good.
- Rating: ***
