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The Island starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean & Djimon Hounsou

Posted on August 24, 2012 Written by ripitup

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The Island starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean & Djimon Hounsou
The Island starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean & Djimon Hounsou.

Lincoln 6 Echo (Ewan McGregor) lives in a high-tech facility with many others who have survived a deadly contamination. The survivors have very healthy, productive yet artificial lives where even the “sun rays” are artificially provided.

All people have jobs, and while socializing and friendship are encouraged, anger and physical contact aren’t. All these survivors one day hope to move out to “The Island”- the last contamination-free zone on the planet, a slice of heaven. The lucky ones are chosen by a lottery system.

The place is run by Dr. Merrick  (Sean Bean) and he makes sure curiosity doesn’t corrupt the system, and so far only Lincoln is really questioning things. Why do they all have to wear white? Who organizes things? Why can’t they make their own choices or rules?

Luckily for Lincoln, there is a supervisor (Steve Buscemi) that remembers what the real world was like and doesn’t mind talking to Lincoln about it. And it is during these conversations that we realize the survivors barely know anything outside of what they have been thought- they don’t know things like slang, kissing, sex, law, greed or cloning…

While Lincoln longs for a more fulfilling life, he is content with one thing: his friendship with Jordan 2 Delta (Scarlett Johansson), a female survivor he has formed a very close bond with. So he is not exactly happy when she is the next lottery winner. But his curiosity leads him to a shocking discovery: their health and well-being only concern the doctors and the supervisors until they fill their purpose: be it delivering a baby for a mother, donation of organs…And “The Island” is a code name for death.

He wastes no time in running away with Jordan, with all the facility guards after them and later the extremely determined mercenaries (lead by Djimon Hounsou’s character.)

As hard as it is, they realize that their survival instinct and desire to live overcome any shortcomings they might have.

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Like sci-fi/action with a Realistic Romance & Critically Acclaimed Actors? See The Island. 

Written by Caspian Tredwell-Owen, Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci and directed by Michael Bay, The Island is a sci-fi action that delivers a friendship/romance that feels more genuine than many dramas or romantic films. It also has its funny moments, without overplaying the elements and trying slapstick. It has a great cast, and you can hardly be disappointed when Buscemi is the panicking yet helpful sidekick (Desperado, anyone?) and Sean Bean is a heartless villain.

I especially loved the innocence Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson integrated into their performances.

Fun Notes:

–          You get double Ewan McGregor when Lincoln meets his human counterpart, Tom Lincoln: nerdy, Scottish,immature, and not morally developed.

–          Real life  Jordan is a famous model, and she first discovers kissing when she sees a commercial with her kissing another male model (Trent Ford.)

 

–          McGregor is 13 years older than Johansson, though I don’t think you can tell.

 

Please feel free to leave spoiler-full comments. : )

Also on the cast:

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen: Gorgeous, Entertaining & Heartfelt

The Ghost Writer starring Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan and Kim Catrall

Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona starring Scarlett Johansson, Javier Bardem, Rebecca Hall and Penélope Cruz

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke and Don Cheadle

Scarlett Johansson Trivia: Star of Iron Man 2 , Match Point & The Prestige

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

 

Recommended Movies – Sci-Fi/Action focused on Human Nature

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

Gattaca starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law

 

 

 

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Djimon Hounsou, Ewan McGregor, ewan mcgregor the island, michael bay, scarlett johansson, scarlett johansson the island, sean bean, sean bean the island, Steve Buscemi, the island, the island 2005 movie, the island cast, the island dvd, the island movie, the island movie review

Equilibrium starring Christian Bale: Powerful, Action-Filled, Spot-On Observation of Human Nature

Posted on August 20, 2012 Written by ripitup

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Equilibrium (2002) starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen & Sean Bean
Equilibrium (2002) starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen & Sean Bean.

In a post-WW3 world, Libria has been founded on peace. In Libria, there are no wars because citizens are devoid of feelings and urges of aggression, violence, greed, anger or jealousy. This is managed by the obligatory daily dose of the drug Prozium which prevents Librians from feeling any emotion, including passion, lust, love, joy…

In this war-free world, the only crime committed is “sense offense” as some of the citizens rebel against the regime and don’t take the drug. People aren’t allowed to keep anything colorful, personal, different-including art, books and furniture. Anything that can urge feelings…

Offenders are caught and killed. Their stuff is confiscated by the sweepers, armed forces enforcing the Father’s law, all in the name of “peace.” Outranking Sweepers are Clerics, men dedicated to further enforce the law. Clerics have been exceptionally trained in combat, whether it is with or without weapons.

And the best is John Preston Christian Bale), who despite the lack of feelings, has the ability to think like the criminals, making them all easy prey and the master of fighting skills. While he is a favorite because of these, he is also monitored very closely as he has failed to spot one sense offender, his wife.

However when an incident hits too close to home and coincidences end up Preston missing a dose, he gets a taste of what the offenders are fighting for.  This confuses him, but he can’t help but continue feeling. But as Preston tries to cope with all of these new sensations and keep his feelings for a inprisoned offender (Emily Watson), he will have to pretend that he’s still the same Preston, hide the changes from his kids, his partner (Taye Diggs), Father’s representative (Angus Mcfadyen.) But how the hell can he do his job, which involves killing many people who are just guilty of wanting to feel?

Will he be able to rebel against a system he so loyally believed in? Will he be able, or have the guts to, try and demolish the system- especially when his latest official mission is to destroy the rebels completely?

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Why Equilibrium Is a Must-See

Sorry for the long plot summary, but I needed you to envision the world of Libria, to fully engage you in the dilemma of John Preston. I purposefully didn’t include the trailer as it is misleading (as in the event(s) that lead him to rebel) and shows a bit too much, without covering an example of change in Preston’s attitude.

Christian Bale’s portrayal of John Preston is one of the things that make this movie.

While there are practically no twists (probably nothing you won’t see coming anyway) that the movie will use to entice its audience, it really doesn’t need to. Equilibrium gets its strength from how well the artificiality of the manufactured state is shown, how impressively the fight scenes were choreographed, Christian Bale’s character’s transition, the sufficient action scenes and how it is easy to identify with the rebels, and picture how hard it would be to adapt to a world like that, had we known what feeling was like before Libria…

It’s regime draws parallel to a regime we still see in a lot of countries, and it is a wonderful display of irony, hypocrisy of those in power, and the irony of using extreme violence to “protect” “the peace.”

It’s in a movie viewer’s nature to look for plot holes, or at least to naturally “detect” them when he/she is not captivated by the movie. I can’t help doing the same with movies that bore, annoy or fail to entertain me. However, when it comes to Equilibrium, I urge you to pay attention to the dialogue and the clues thrown around. The “popular plot holes” suggested by some viewers are actually incidents whose reasons are explained or implied.

Oh and if you need an addition to the cast, Sean Bean is in it.

This is the movie that made me a Christian Bale fan. Because it actually shows that he is not just into the projects that are considered indie and/or artsy, and/or including characters that are hard to (or impossible to) relate to. Equilibrium is a lot more mainstream than most of his films, shot before the Batman trilogy.

It is fast, emotional and relevant to our world. Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer (who I also became a fan of with this movie) in 2002. Currently rated at 7.6 on Imdb.com, I’d rate it higher.

Notes on the Director and Cast:

  • Kurt Wimmer is also the writer/director of Salt (action film starring Angelina Jolie) and Law Abiding Citizen (an action/thriller starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. He is also the inventor of the fighting style and “education” used in Equilibrium.

 

  • Salt 2 is being shot and is also written by Wimmer.

 

  • The movie also features the talented actor William Fichtner as the leader of the rebels.

 

 

  • Angus MacFadyen is better known for his pivotal role in Braveheart, where he played Robert the Bruce, a nobleman who was torn between his faith in William Wallace (played by Mel Gibson) and his privileges.

Related Movie Suggestions

The Island starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson

Gattaca starring Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman and Jude Law

Related Articles

Christian Bale Trivia

11 Actors, 11 Drastic Weight Changes for Roles: With Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Tom Hanks and more

Cake starring Heather Graham, David Sutcliffe and Taye Diggs

Salt starring Angelina Jolie & Liev Schreiber

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, angus macfadyen, Christian Bale, christian bale equilibrium, director kurt wimmer, drama, emily watson, emily watson equilibrium, equilibrium, equilibrium 2002 movie, equilibrium cast, equilibrium christian bale, equilibrium movie, equilibrium movie review, Kurt Wimmer, kurt wimmer movies, Law Abiding Citizen, movies, salt angelina jolie, salt movie, salt movie review, sci fi, sean bean, Taye Diggs

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