I have never enjoyed a Michael Bay film until this one. It’s a shame that it was a total disaster at the box office. With the film you get two films in one — an intriguing, moody sci-fi tale and a Michael Bay action film. They both work well, however, the thinking side of me is disappointed with the wasted potential of the second and third acts, which could have gone in many smart and provocative ways, but ended up turning into a chase flick.
Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor, TRAINSPOTTING) lives in a tightly monitored and orderly society after having been rescued from the contaminated outside world. Along with the other inhabitants of his world, they await the lottery, which provides them a trip to The Island, the only non-contaminated place still left on Earth.
The residents are kept pretty naïve, but Lincoln Six Echo is curious and likes to question what he has been told by Dr. Merrick (Sean Bean, FLIGHTPLAN). Lincoln’s best friend is Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson, LOST IN TRANSLATION), who is a true believer in The Island. Lincoln has another friend named McCord (Steve Buscemi, DESPERADO), who works in a restricted area and lives in a special sector. As Lincoln digs deeper, he discovers the conspiracy of his life, which is that him and Jordan are really clones, which are used as spare body parts for rich people. Once he knows the truth, Lincoln and Jordan escape from the center. Due to the potential disaster to his business, Merrick hires mercenary Albert Laurent (Djimon Hounsou, AMISTAD) to hunt the clones down.
The set-up for the film is great. It doesn’t tackle issues that haven’t been tackled before (the studio was actually sued by the makers of CLONUS for copyright infringement), but it does it with style, tension and intelligence. Bay does a great job of creating the eerie feel of this closed off world. I won’t go into the myriad of ethical topics the film could have tackled in the second and third acts, because it would be too depressing. However, the chase sequences and fish out of water nature of the closing acts make the conclusion enjoyable nonetheless.
McGregor and Johansson have fun with their naïve characters. It’s fun to watch them. In an effort to expose the conspiracy, Lincoln and Jordan seek out Lincoln’s genetic original — Tom Lincoln. Again, instead of going for something profound, the film finds the fun and silly paradoxes of the situation to play on. I would have loved to see a really poignant take on the subject matter, but that’s really not the kind of filmmaker Michael Bay is. He makes things look good and knows how to ramp up the excitement. He sets out to make a fun popcorn movie with a smart twist and succeeds. This is pure entertainment. I look forward to a more serious remake in 20 years from a more serious minded filmmaker.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
