The Island

When I thought, after the Bad Boys II, that Michael Bay had permanently drowned in his action-comedy affectations, I couldn't have been more wrong. Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote him a script that suited him perfectly and although it's a timid prelude to Transformers, the futuristic romance is worth it. Ewan McGregor excels in a role that could finally elevate him to the absolute top class (but due to the mentioned box office failure, we didn't get to see it this time either), the rest of the actors support him at a distance, but skillfully. Perhaps it could have spent a little less time before the reveal, but the action in the second half lifts the film completely someplace else. (14/02/2006)

For me, Michael Bay's best film, which is just short of perfection. It's a great blend of sci-fi, drama and action, all spiced up with a touch of romance. It's all accompanied by an incredible soundtrack, composed by the until recently unknown to me Steve Jablonsky. The plot was absolutely meticulously thought out and I didn't get lost at all. The visual effects were carefully done and convincing. In short, this a very good film with an original and unorthodox theme, it could have benefited from a shorter running time, but even that was bearable. (22/08/2010)

I don't like Michael Bay and after watching the film "The Island", that hasn't changed much. I've always liked "The Incredibles", but that's about it. "The Island" has an interesting concept and that's about it. Bay tried to make something that could be called utopian sci-fi, where the social criticism should work primarily. It mainly works on the action level because that's what Bay enjoys. It's noticeable. Everything else is just a big bubble to make the film longer than two hours. A good idea fragmented into an unbelievably long boredom. (01/04/2014)

A weaker 4 stars. Definitely not because Bay made a swashbuckling actioner out of stuff someone else would have made Blade Runner out of -). More because I kind of got lost in it at times, and if the camera had stayed still for a moment I wouldn't have minded at all. Otherwise, probably the most logical lapses I've seen recently. (01/10/2009)

Bay’s attempt at making a different type of movie than he usually does stopped somewhere half-way along the route. In the end, the initially intriguingly developing screenplay proves to be the weakest aspect of this movie. Despite the fact that something is always going on in this picture and despite the frantic editing, paradoxically this seems to lack pace. But even so, thanks to an excellent McGregor and the precise technical aspects, this is an above-average picture which is definitely more endearing than Bay’s previous movies, but unfortunately it isn’t one of his best. (05/09/2005)