Karnataka - Bangalore

Sci-Fi meets action

HEDGING ONE'S BETS: Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson in `The Island'.

Film: The Island (English)

Director: Michael Bay

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi

You can make a serious-minded science fiction film in the Spielberg (Minority Report) or Ridley Scott (Blade Runner) style.

Or you can give maximum bang for the customer's buck in a style made familiar by Michael Bay (Pearl Harbour, Armageddon).

But can you merge the two genres? Bay thinks he can - and "The Island" is the result.

The movie is a teasing Sci-Fi premise, till interval time, which then morphs into the Bay-standard action sequences with some eye popping, ear splitting chases where the scenery as usual takes a severe beating.

To begin at the (scientific) beginning, we have a couple of childlike adults code named Lincoln Six Echo ("L6E") (McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta (Johansson), who are inhabitants of a strange, sealed world where the only highlight is a regular lottery where the winner gets to go to a nameless "The Island."

"L6E" is a bit too curious for his own good and stumbles upon the truth about the whole set up - some sort of clone factory run by the sinister Merrick (Sean Bean). A maintenance worker (Buscemi) befriends "L6E" and his lady friend to escape into the wider world and the second half of the film, set in a real location, Los Angeles, allows the director to unleash his trademark action sequences.

Those looking for brainy Sci-Fi material will find much of the film too loud and mindlessly destructive. And those who go merely to get another dose of Bay-induced thrills will find a good half, yawn inducing if not mildly repellent. It's called hedging one's bets, the Hollywood style.

ANAND PARTHASARATHY

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