Not very much. I liked pretty much every single Michael Bay movie more (haven't seen Bad Boys II yet, though). I just didn't find the action any good and the plot was really really thin at times and quite cheesy.

Go and see Bad Boys II!!

I own it. Just haven't had time to see it yet. In any case, I'd give The Island 6.5/10, a B-.

pretty nice way to start your life - rich and getting Scarlett J - in every way.

I saw it tonight to try and take my mind off things. It worked, somewhat, so I guess that's good.

It's not really that good of a film, though. The first half is sorta interesting, but it's not developed nearly enough to actually intrigue. The second half, on the other hand, is just plain boring with messy action sequences that make little to no sense making up the bulk of it. The ending is terribly cheesy, too.

Bay's visual flair is still on target, the musical score is nice, and the acting is pretty good, but other than that...nada. C

I agree with everything makeshift said above... I was with the movie in the first half, but the second seemed like one long unexciting car chase and was largely a mess. I would have loved to see more of Mcgregor trying to discover reality - or trying to cope with the new found real world, and less of the mindless, repetitive helicopter and car chases.

It's as if Michael Bay wanted to make a smarter movie - like Logan's run, the Matrix, and Dark City - but, couldn't quite let go of the airheaded cheesy action bits. It lost a lot of steam and by the end I just wanted it to be over with. C+

One of the worst movies I've ever seen, topped only by the trash that was Armageddon.

F-

Like nearly every Michael Bay movie I loved this one too. Some really really great action sequences. I always like MacGregor and he was perfect for this movie as was Scarlett, which was like many others said unbelievable hot. Going to see it again soon. A-

I really thought the action was rather lame in that one and I love The Rock and Armageddon.

D

The whole thing was so nonsensical and dopey that it's defies any easy categorization. I laughed, hard.

6.5 or 7/10. The whole story background is pretty interesting even we have parts of it seen already in some other movies. Actually the action was very good (also copied already feom bays former movies) but for me it didnt fit the whole concept. Overall I left the cinema with the feeling that more would have been possible and that Bay is perhaps not the right man for storys like this.

WHat a freaking fantastic movie, the futuristic look was great! the story was great! i thought the performences were good!

Indeed one of the best Sci-fi movies!
Micheal Bay did a great job!

the only scenes i didnt like when they were on the flying motorcycle and on the big building's logo! it was to way over the top!
and too unbelievable!

and tooooOOOOOOOooo long!

i give it a A-

Scarlett looked HOT!!

Bay just doesn't know how to choose a camera angle and let it breathe, does he?

I was actually impressed with this movie for about the first half, when it was taking its time to lay out the story and develop its characters. Then it became a chase movie and Bay was back to fumbling the football. Even when people are running through corridors, Bay's camera work is horrendous to behold. He shakes the hell out of it and uses disorientating jump-cuts that must be trying to evoke tension, but instead bring about a headache. I don't know why some people defend him by saying that he can still string together great action sequences, because he just sucks at action. That freeway chase is an embarassment. No excitement, zero coherence, ridiculous quick zooms and the flipping of a bunch of cars just for the fun of it, exactly like that crap chase from Bad Boys 2.

When the clones finally meet up with the real Lincoln, we are treated to another nice dialogue (no quick cuts or shakiness, no insane 360 helicopter shots that go on forever) that hints at how much better this movie would have been had it explored its themes more and not tried to be an action movie. I really liked McGregor in this and these scenes with his "host" let him have a lot of fun playing two personalities. Oh yeah, Scarlett looks great in this movie, but that girl just isn't made for action movies. That husky voice is a real turn-off when using it to scream and yell . This all leads to that cliched showdown where the badass gets redemption (Hounsou has engaged in a shoot-out with cops and yet has a problem when a bunch of clones are about to be exterminated? This turn would have worked if it were written better) and the hero has a fight with the previously non-threatening villian while things explode around them. The clones are released upon the world and you wonder what kinds of problems they are going to present to society/their "owners" and how are they going to be dealt with, but the movie just ends. I also thought the film missed the opportunity for a nice emotional scene where Jordan returns to take care of the son of the real Jordan, who would have died from the car accident by then. Instead, the viewer is force fed the emotion through the film and we are told precisely when we are supposed to care with light piano cues and strings..........and then BAM......a hundred quick cuts of black helicopters and guys getting out of cars in slow motion.

C+

One of the most intriguing, breathtaking sci-fi films in recent memory.

A

This is one of the biggest surprises of the year. Very well done and it is shocking that people didn't like it all that much.

8/10

Going to have to say this was a great movie. Something I look for in a movie is whether or not it keeps me interested, and I was interested for the 2+ hour time (as opposed to the 80-minute Robots, where I was checking my watch, waiting for it to end). Good action, good acting, good story, good summer flick. Too bad it didn't make more at the BO, though.

Grade: A-/B+

A-

Fantastic. Great performances around, awesome action everywhere, an actual original and interesting storyline to go with the action, just an overall blast. #6 of 2005 for me, it'll end in my top 10.

Scarlett.

I bought the DVD ought of (sort of) fond memories of the flick but found myself less impressed. The glamour of the first half gone, I guess it turns out the flick is just an overblown wreck....

It isn't without some merit, though- there were solid performances, inspired production design at times, and a somewhat solid plot.

C

I'll be watching this tonight. Hopefully it'll be better than what I'm expecting.

It was almost like watching two different movies: the first half was an intriguing sci-fi story, and the second half was pretty much your average summer action movie. The movie begins to unravel after they meet Ewan McGregor's sponsor. It just gets a little too 80s Schwarzeneggar-ish for me. Overall though, not that bad.

7/10

C. For a Michael Bay film, this movie was certainly lacking in excitement or good action.

Saw it again and didnt really enjoy it as much as I used to. The last 30min or so are really mediocre ( when McGregor meets his sponsor it goes kinda downhill ) I still enjoyed the movie but just didnt hold up really well for me, it seems thats the case for almost every Bay movie I see. Great to watch them once on the big screen and thats it. I really do think he needs to work on cutting the movies down, they're too long ( Bad Boys 2 especially, my god did that movie feel incredibly boring the second time I saw it )

Grade - B

Repeat after me: Michael.Bay.Is.A.Bloody.Hack.

There is not a single frame in this film that is original; absolutely nothing anywhere that shows any sense of orginality. This has been tried before so many times that we've come to expect a certain degree of dejavu when watching it- ok, fine. But the entire film? That's unacceptable.

The film does have a good premise, it has the acting talent, and clearly, it's got the design and sfx team to make a good film. The problem is that it needs a good director, someone who can keep the attention fixed on what's worthwhile and dispose of the dreck (like, the unnecessary action sequences that last way too long).

The film is too silly to be taken seriously, which is why I can't really analyze the themes therein; they've been dealt with in other films, and dealt with far more intelligently.

The biggest problem, aside from its total lack of originality, is the film's lack of focus on all fronts. The action sequences were so long that you almost forgot the entire island business that went before it, which is a huge no-no: you must keep the focus on the film's main storyline at all times, else you'll lose the audience (assuming they were with you to begin with). As well, anyone else notice how completely incongruent futuristic LA and world is? On the one hand, the world of tomorrow apparently has the technology to develop cloning up to such a sophisticated state as to reproduce human copies that grow within a matter of a few years into full adulthood. Yet, on the other hand, the technology of the police, militia, and in general (in transportation, etc.) is so juvenile as to be incapable of capturing two escaped individuals who have, we are told, the knowledge of a child when it comes to the world. My goodness, how will the world of tomorrow deal with terrorists and other dangerous individuals? Are we to assume that the competence of the law enforcement will decrease with time?

I know that the ending of the film, with that piss-poor music and ridiculous undertones of 'we are freed from slavery!', has been mocked sufficiently by now, so I'll just leave that to the side. I find the desperate attempts to equate the clones with Black slaves and Jews to be almost offensive. Branding? Chambers in which people are forced into with the gas being turned on? There is such a lack of originality that Bay has to lift things from historical events to get his story going. When you reference such serious events, you better make sure that the film is beyond ridicule, else don't draw any analogies at all.

Also, anyone else kept count of the number of tied-in merchandise and products? Let's see, you have Puma, Microsoft, Calvin Klein, Porsche (or was it Ferrari? Even the designer in the film lacks originality!)...

The only consolation is that Scarlett, as dumb as a doll in this film (I hope it was intentional), looked hot, and that Ewan McGregor didn't embarass himself in this embarassing film.


If a grade, then D

D

I gave it every break in the world and tried to appreciate it on it's own terms but after a while I just didn't like it. The scenes with Buscemi provided the only time in the movie when it almost sparked to life, even though he's starting to look like something that claws up from the graves in a horror flick.