The Island

By Mal -

6 out of 10

Having already read the book that allegedly inspired the film, I was keen to see where they differed — not least because the book is excellent and the film got pretty average reviews. As it happens, The Island appears to have taken a single concept and ignored the main story, thereby saving the book from criticism. Phew.

The path taken sees the film borrow heavily from both The Matrix and Logan's Run — both for the story and for some of the visuals. Really, it's quite a rip-off all-round. Despite this, however, it's still a reasonable film. The first half is even quite respectable sci-fi, but the rest is pure Hollywood. Needless CGI, endless chase scenes, the works. Nowhere near dark enough for its subject matter.

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