The Island

We've heard much about cloning in recent years/months/weeks/days. It only a matter of time when a human will be successfully cloned amidst heated moral and ethical debates. Does a clone have a soul? Is it morally and ethically right to clone a human person? What will be a human clone's purpose? Some have suggested to improve and expand the life of the original person, in other words, the clone will act as a spare parts toolbox for the original. Arm severed in an accident? No problem, chop off an arm from the clone and reattach it on you. Need a new liver from drinking too much? No problem, take the good liver from the clone and put it in you. Diagnosed with leukemia and need a bone marrow transplant? No problem, the clone has plenty of bone marrow. This spare parts toolbox concept is what The Island tackles.

Its 2019, and the Earth has been contaminated. The survivors live in this seemingly utopian but carefully controlled society. All the residents dress the same, are given what to eat, work boring jobs, exercise, sleep, leading their otherwise mediocre life in a contained facility. They all dream of one thing. Being picked in a lottery system to go to The Island, the last uncontaminated place in the planet. In reality there is no contamination, the survivors are clones used as a spare parts toolbox for their original counterparts in the real world at a cost of $5 million, the utopian facility is a prison and going to The Island means that your original human couterpart needs a kidney or two.

Ewan McGregor's character, Lincoln Six-Echo soon discovers the truth through his need to ask questions - human curiosity. Jordan Two-Delta, played by Scarlett Johansson, is picked to go to The Island but in reality her original is a supermodel who is involved in a serious car accident and needs multiple organ transplants. Lincoln makes it his mission to save Jordan from The Island and both escape into the real world.

In classic Michael Bay style, the action gets intense from here. Lincoln and Jordan are hunted and chased down. Car chases, hovering motorcycle chase, they fell from a highrise building, they are chased on foot, bullets flying, bombs exploding, good stuff.

The cast is expecially strong, highlighted by Steve Buscemi's weird funniness and Michael Clarke Duncan's brief but vitally important role.

The Island is a great movie dealing with a very relevant topic supported by a strong cast, explosive action and a good plot. I give it a 8/10.