Lincoln Six-Echo (Ewan McGregor) is a resident of a seemingly utopian but contained facility in the mid-21st century. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to the "The Island," reportedly the last uncontaminated spot on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie. He and all of the other inhabitants of the facility are actually human clones whose only purpose is to provide "spare parts" for their original human counterparts. Realizing it is only a matter of time before he is "harvested," Lincoln makes a daring escape with a fellow resident named Jordan Two-Delta (Scarlett Johansson). Pursued by the forces of the institute that once housed them, Lincoln and Jordan engage in a race for their lives to literally meet their makers.

The sad thing about the movie is that while it is really good it could have been phenomenal except for one thing, Michael Bay. Michael Bay as a director is like using a sledgehammer to hammer in a nail. His movies are subtle, they don’t have complex issues and they have all fallen under the category that the Island could not escape, “Popcorn Flick.” The first half of the movie had an incredible intriguing story that would have been fun to be seen developed as a Sci-Fi film but once the cat’s out of the bag, so to speak, so is the story. It’s no secret that the Island does not exist or that the lead actors are Clones but they should have been, that would have been a phenomenal movie. The story is intriguing; the characters under a rigid environment begin to question their surroundings and rules, only to find out near the end of the movie they are clones rather than the middle of the movie. Once McGregor and Johansson discover their true identities the movie at that moment becomes a Michael Bay film full of mindless chases, senseless shootouts and typical popcorn film fodder. I like your good chase and shootout movie as much as the next guy but I was literally engrossed in the story and was sad to see it thrown out the window, it makes me wish they had gotten a true Sci-Fi director to do the movie instead of Michael Bay.

Once Ewan McGregor sheds his Star Wars fame people will begin to realize what an amazing actor he is. He was the lone bright spot of acting in Star Wars and he doesn’t disappoint in the Island either. He can steal a scene, be the romantic interest, the tough guy and then throw in a comical jab all at the same time. He was perfectly cast for the part and his dual identities in the film lead to the most laughs in a movie otherwise somber with action. Scarlett Johansson is also a superb actress that is seen as more of the teenybopper crowd rather than an actress with real skills. But turns in movies like Lost in Translation are starting to key people in on what she can do. Her and McGregor have great chemistry and make a good team. The movie is good, better than it should be, but its still a Michael Bay film which is somewhat of a shame, go see it you will most likely be entertained in one aspect or another.

The Idea of using clones as spare parts is not so far fetched. There has been much political ado about what is ethical and what is not ethical as far as cloning goes. The movie copies that quite well, the stockholders are not aware that their insurance policies are able to think and act on their own, letting them sleep better at night. But faced with the idea of dieing and the fact that you have paid millions so you don’t have to, would ethics play a part anymore, or would human nature overcome the politics of having a living-breathing clone killed for your own betterment. If we are heading towards clones and cloning at some point the government is going to have to become involved and effectively police the issue and not play the ignorant role they do in the movie.
4 stars out of 5