Review - The Island
Aug. 24th, 2005 01:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackOn friday we went to see "The Island." Hmmm. Well, I don't regret it, I was glad of an excuse to go out. And the second half was quite fun. But, boy, it was even more cliche'd than I thought.
Apparently it was being sued by the makers of another "Male and female leads escape from an institute for growing people for organ replacements for rich people" film. I'm not sure what to think about that -- the idea is as old as the hills, so it's not *theirs* really, either, but did they steal more?
The first half seemed to be all driving hope that Dystopias are bad, mmkay. Which we *get*. Curiousity and sex discouraged. All white clothing. Boring jobs. People mysteriously disappear to a 'paradise' and are never seen again. Bad dreams. It'd be good if it came *before*, say, Brave New World, but it didn't seem to have anything to add. Every cliche was there, down to the bit where he escapes and is wrestling with his 'donor' when a guard has to shoot one of them. A black mercenary who comes good in the end.
And a basic (or indeed, any) knowledge of biology would be nice too. We grow people in vats but have to make them live to mature the organs properly. That was silly in the Matrix, for god's sake. And why grow people to the same age as their sponsors? At least they rationalised it with a line of technobabble. There was no explanation why clones' fingerprints and retinas were the same, nor why they spontaneously acquired memories from their host[1]. And they *could* have rationalised it.
On the other hand, the main characters were ok, and I loved Sean Bean[1] as the evil doctor running everything, and Mack as the poor, tawdry, but ultimately good technician, and the black mercenary I can't remember the name of, and the male lead's unclone.
It was also disturbing in the implications: the message that science is bad[3], etc. But sonicdrift explained this much better than me; prod her to upload her impressions.
[1] I may forgive it in Dune sequals and OSC early novels because they were so fun in other ways, and made it seem a natural part of the 'magic'. Here there was even little reason for it.
[2] Family joke: "Se-an Bean?" "No, Sean Baughn Y'maughn!"
[3] All tomotoes have genes in. GM tomatoes have *different* ones (or, in some cases more) but genes aren't inherently bad.
Apparently it was being sued by the makers of another "Male and female leads escape from an institute for growing people for organ replacements for rich people" film. I'm not sure what to think about that -- the idea is as old as the hills, so it's not *theirs* really, either, but did they steal more?
The first half seemed to be all driving hope that Dystopias are bad, mmkay. Which we *get*. Curiousity and sex discouraged. All white clothing. Boring jobs. People mysteriously disappear to a 'paradise' and are never seen again. Bad dreams. It'd be good if it came *before*, say, Brave New World, but it didn't seem to have anything to add. Every cliche was there, down to the bit where he escapes and is wrestling with his 'donor' when a guard has to shoot one of them. A black mercenary who comes good in the end.
And a basic (or indeed, any) knowledge of biology would be nice too. We grow people in vats but have to make them live to mature the organs properly. That was silly in the Matrix, for god's sake. And why grow people to the same age as their sponsors? At least they rationalised it with a line of technobabble. There was no explanation why clones' fingerprints and retinas were the same, nor why they spontaneously acquired memories from their host[1]. And they *could* have rationalised it.
On the other hand, the main characters were ok, and I loved Sean Bean[1] as the evil doctor running everything, and Mack as the poor, tawdry, but ultimately good technician, and the black mercenary I can't remember the name of, and the male lead's unclone.
It was also disturbing in the implications: the message that science is bad[3], etc. But sonicdrift explained this much better than me; prod her to upload her impressions.
[1] I may forgive it in Dune sequals and OSC early novels because they were so fun in other ways, and made it seem a natural part of the 'magic'. Here there was even little reason for it.
[2] Family joke: "Se-an Bean?" "No, Sean Baughn Y'maughn!"
[3] All tomotoes have genes in. GM tomatoes have *different* ones (or, in some cases more) but genes aren't inherently bad.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 12:29 pm (UTC)Any chance of LJ cuts for spoilers? I tend to read them anyway, but it's one bit of nettiquette that I think should be encouraged :)
no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 12:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 12:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-24 12:40 pm (UTC)But come to think of it, I can't remember *exactly* how much was given away. I'm not sure if they actually said what the facility was for, etc, but everyone seemed to be assuming it.
no subject
Date: 2005-08-26 07:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-08-30 02:48 pm (UTC)