Reviewed by Andrew Wooding

The Island
Director: Michael Bay (2005)
Distributor: Warner Brothers  Certificate: 12A

Director Michael Bay’s previous films include Bad Boys 1 and 2, Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, so I went in expecting a lot of action and not much story. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised. Lots of intriguing scenes set in a mysterious futuristic world that is too good to be true. A world where your needs are met, provided you don’t ask too many questions and faithfully do your job. There is also a daily lottery, where the winner gets to spend the rest of their life in a paradise known as “The Island”.

However, Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor’s character) starts to believe that all is not what it seems, especially about the promise of “The Island”, and he soon uncovers… well, I’ll leave it there. You’ll have to watch the film to find out! All, I’ll say is that if you like dystopian stories like 1984, Brave New World and Logan’s Run, then you will probably enjoy this part of the film.

I didn’t cheer at anything to do with Scarlett Johansson. I wish I could say that her acting was terrible, but she wasn’t even acting – just trying to look pretty while saying her lines. Sean Bean, on the other hand, makes acting seem effortless. He can do no wrong, in my book and is an asset to every film he is in. He particularly shines as a non-over the top English baddy. Also, the world-weary Steve Buscemi livens up every scene he is in.

As for everyone else, I’m afraid they are just ciphers. This is especially evident in the endless action scenes where mercenaries and the like utter lines like: “Come on! Come on!”, “Go for it!”, “Gotta go faster!”, “Get them!” and other meaningless dialogue for no other reason than to give us something different to listen to between the various explosions and car chase sounds.

As you can tell, I have mixed feelings about this film. The first half was like a puzzle, and I enjoyed trying to figure out what was going on as we explored this strange society, layer by layer. Unfortunately, the second half was an insult to my intelligence. Why stimulate my brain to start with, only to require me to turn it off again? I sometimes like films where you have to switch your brain off (ideal for watching on video on Friday nights), but in The Island, the two styles are an uncomfortable mix.

THROUGH THE LENS OF CHRISTIAN FAITH 

Some key themes: Can good come out of suffering?; Reconciliation

“You made my whole being; you formed me in my mother’s body” (Psalm 139 v 13).

“God even knows how many hairs are on your head” (Matthew 10 v 30).

I could go in a number of directions in this part of the review. I could look at the ethics of cloning and stem-cell research. (More specifically for this film: will human clones have rights, and if they are viewed as lesser than human beings is it OK to cut them up for medical research?) I could ask: is there such a thing as a perfect society, or is there an underclass which has to suffer in order for that “perfect society” to exist? The first minutes of the film could also have been a satire on aspects of British - and maybe even American - culture: keeping the workers unquestioning, productive and obedient, as long as you allow them some pleasures and keep their hopes up with dreams of a windfall lottery win. There is also a comparison in the film between the slave trade and the way the clones are treated – ie, not as people but as objects to be used.

In the end, though, I’d like to go with the theme of identity, which is tied up with all of the issues raised above. It is significant that the two main characters have license-like names with numbers in them – Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Scarlett Johansson).

Back in the 1980s, reggae group UB40 sang these words: “I am the one in ten. A number on a list. I am the one in ten, even though I don’t exist. Nobody knows me, even though I’m always there – a statistical reminder of a world that doesn’t care.”

Have you ever felt like this? Insignificant in a population of millions? Nothing more than a number on a list, especially when there is talk of everyone having to possess identity cards? Someone who clocks in and out of work each day, but ultimately has no mark to make on the world?

In The Island, Lincoln Six Echo and Jordan Two Delta are initially faithful, unquestioning members of society. But then they start to realise that there is more, much more than the reality they are experiencing, and their minds are blown by what they eventually discover. If Merrick (Sean Bean) had his way, they would remain nothing more than numbers in his plan. But these numbers rebelled, broke out, rose above the system, were hungry for more.

In a way, this could be a little like Christian conversion – the realisation that “I” am more than just an insignificant number in society. Look at those Bible verses above. From the Old Testament, we discover that God knew us even before we were even born. And from the words of Jesus in the New Testament, God knows us so intimately that he even knows all the hairs on our head. Don’t worry if you’re bald – I’m sure he still knows you inside out! And finally, from Philippians 4 v 3, Paul talks about those “whose names are written in the book of life”.

Insignificant? Not to God. Just a number? If you know him, he even has your name (not a number) written down in his “book of life”.

Discussion questions....

· Go on, admit it, do you like action films like those made by Michael Bay, or films that make you think? Maybe there’s room for both.

· Do you think it is right, in the name of progress, for scientists to experiment on human embryos and stem cells?

· How about human cloning – should it be banned (if so, why?), or is it inevitable that it’s going to happen so let’s learn to live with it?