Fridae

Welcome to The Island. But darlings, a word of warning
before you step off the boat: this is no Phuket, and Nation.V has
yet to begin. The Island is the blockbuster of the season
and is guaranteed to blow your mind away — you won't need
it anyway.

Starring Ewan McGregor (Star Wars: Episodes I, II & III)
and the lovely Scarlet Johansson (Lost in Translation,
Girl with a Pearl Earring), the film is one helluva commercial
flick, in every sense of the word: from its Lux-inspired opening
sequence to the condom commercial passing off as a love scene between
the leads, from the patented Puma pumps to the Ando-inspired architecture,
The Island is every Brand Queen's paradise.

Set in the near future, residents of a seemingly utopian contained
facility are survivors of a natural disaster that resulted in widespread
contamination on Earth. Safe for one last spot (oooh?you got that
right, love): the Island.

And residents await desperately to win the lottery spin that entitles
them to leave for the Island. But to Lincoln Six Echo something
is not quite in place?And we are not talking about the plot here.

Michael Bay, of the infamous bomb that was Pearl Harbour,
drops another this year. Despite strong action sequences and spectacular
CGIs, nothing could save the film from crashing under its sense
of self-importance in dealing with issues of human eugenics. Gattaca
it is not!

However, the film does feature the strong, albeit underutilised
acting of Miss "Eternity Moment?Johansson and her co-stars, Oscar-nominees
Djimon Hounson (In America) and Michael Clarke-Duncan (The
Green Mile).

The Island is an enjoyable, occasionally exciting and
cornily fun thriller. Watch it with a huge bag of popcorns, salted.