Second Semester

SHORT FILM REVIEW ON THE ISLAND (2005)

Performance Task
In General Biology

Submitted To:
Ms. Annalyn Orcine

Submitted By:
Naizah Jasmine C. Resus

February 26, 2022

 THE ISLAND (2005)

The Island (2005) was shot in Detroit, Michigan and Coachella

Valley, California. The opening landscapes were taken in Italy, while
the boat sequences were shot off the coast of New Zealand. 3.
That's the Wally Power, a genuine boat. It was imported from Italy
at a cost of $25 million to the owner.

The Island, directed by Michael Bay, was the film for this task.
Lincoln Six Echo (Ewan McGregor) and Jordan Two Delta are the
two major protagonists in the film (played by Scarlett Johansson).
It starts with Lincoln Six Echo waking up in a sterile facility,
surrounded by shades of grey and white, and as he gets ready for
the day, there are sensors and screenings that analyze his body
chemistry and then report to the rest of the faculty that he needs to
change his diet, presumably to maintain his physical health. As we
tour the facility, it becomes clear that many more individuals, like
Lincoln, are dressed identically, undergoing the same physical and
mental exams, and doing daily activities that assure complacency.
When Lincoln begs the breakfast waiter for "more bacon, why can't
I have any bacon?" it is clear that he is questioning authority. As
the day goes on, we witness him mechanically feeding nutrient
tubes with a syringe and reporting on his nutritional diet to
different physicians and staff members. Not only are the residents
of the institution in excellent physical condition, but there are
multiple gym-like facilities, and even their leisure pastime — a
holographic battle arena – stimulates physical mobility and
endurance. Lincoln's curiosity eventually gets the best of him, and
he disables his computer in order to leave his office and fetch a
component to repair it. Instead, he visits and meets with James
McCord from a different "sector" (played by Steve Buscemi). "Who
is God?" and "Where do you (McCord) live and come from?" are
among the queries Lincoln asks.

He spots a live bug on his way back to his work station and
captures it to show Jordan Two Delta. Later, during their regular
leisure and rest break, Lincoln informs Jordan that he has
discovered a bug and wonders how it could have lived outside of
their shelter (their shelter is said to be protecting them from
outside contamination). Before the scenario ends, it is revealed that
Jordan has won the lottery and will be traveling to the island. In
astonishment, Lincoln clutches Jordan's arm and says, "I wish I had
known you better," implying that they were developing emotions
for one other despite their busy schedules and the fact that they
were banned to be in close contact for long periods of time.
Lincoln shakes as he wakes up from his nightmare, which he has
had for a long time. It flies up a ladder to the portion above them.
He disguises himself as a nurse and explores the strange world he
has discovered. His first sight is Starkweather Two Delta, a former
prize winner, on an operating table, prepared to have his organs
removed, notably his liver. As he wakes up, he cries "I want to go
to the island!" Then a bunch of purportedly special military soldiers
seize him and drag him to the operating room. It's now evident that
The Island isn't what it looks.
 While studying the film of the events, Dr. Bernard Merrick
(Sean Bean) notices Lincoln and his identification bracelet and
issues a warning that he has been "infected."

He should be quarantined right away. Meanwhile, Lincoln is

hurrying to Jordan's room in order to get her before she departs for
the island. They escape the complex and discover they are in the
midst of a desert wasteland, with their housing facility being
nothing more than an underground bunker with a holographic
screen depicting the outside.

Lincoln and Jordan arrive to a tavern on the outskirts of town,

where McCord informs them that they are clones, and that their
real-world counterparts (their sponsors) are the rich elite of
contemporary society, and that they (the clones) are their
"insurance policy." Jordan's sponsor was a renowned actress and
model who died in a car accident, and she won the lottery so that
her organs could be used to resurrect her sponsor. They then go to
Los Angeles in horrified astonishment in search of Lincoln's
sponsor. They arrive in L.A. at the residence of Tom Lincoln,
Lincoln's extremely rich benefactor, after an elaborate pursuit and
the killing of McCord.

Tom Lincoln phones the Merrick Institute to inform them of the

happenings, surprised that his "insurance policy" is there in front of
his eyes. They dispatch a team to track them down, and after a
Hollywood-style car chase involving lots of explosions, gunfire, and
the deaths of a few random baddies, Lincoln Six Echo slips his ID
bracelet onto his sponsor's wrist, duping Albert Laurent into
shooting Tom Lincoln and believing Lincoln Six Echo is the real Tom
Lincoln. Lincoln and Jordan decided to return to the institution to
face Dr. Merrick and release the rest of their pals after a little
respite. Meanwhile, Dr. Merrick is shown discussing Lincoln's
disobedience with his stockholders, as well as the fact that they
must dispose of "almost 2 million dollars’ worth of merchandise."
The Shareholders agree, and the camera pans to the live
developing creatures in the laboratory, who will never get the
opportunity to be developed into people due to their impending
demise.

Lincoln and Jordan successfully re-enter the facility and

manage to disable the holographic interface that surrounds it,
allowing their companions to escape. Lincoln kills Merrick (who is
said to be his father or god since he gave him life) and then shows
him and Jordan living blissfully in the real world.

In analyzing and evaluating the movie; Same elements, same

story lines, same plot, with few not great nuances, a utopian world
of lies gives ‘The Island’ the same ending. The movie's conclusion
was quite predictable and blatant, which is what American films are
known for. There's no doubt that the action-packed sci-fi premise is
intriguing, but it's the same with other sci-fi thrillers. It had a
terrific scientific tale idea, but the production concentrated on the
entertaining aspects - stunts and action – to the point that it lost
sight of the underlying notion of science behind it.

What's actually thrilling is Jordan and Lincoln's chase by

facilitators and agents, and the anticipation of seeing what's really
going on in the 'contaminated' outside world. The characters' God
complex was particularly intriguing, considering that some of the
individuals in the film play as faux Gods, believing that they may be
a God capable of creating life.

The main protagonists, however, contradicted the features of

clones, claiming that they cannot experience emotions, develop
sensations, or have human desires, yet they did have feelings of
affection for each other and human intellectual curiosity, which is
not accurate since they are defined as clones.

The film's flaws include the action portion of the stunts, which
were the downsides of the movie involves the action part of stunts
was really great but I got bored watching it so many times. This is
a real shame since it could have been so much more intriguing and
difficult, but instead it just walks the genre line, and the story
quickly loses any power, leaving you longing for the next
objective to hurry up and explode. The actors don’t do much to
assist, and they couldn't be expected to give the lack of content.
 During the hunt, they fell from the top of the building's
massive signage. They should not have survived dealing with
gravitational force and debris. Despite all of the bullets shot at
them, they 'miraculously' survived, which made me wonder, "How
come they didn't receive a bruise?”. Those action scenes were too
extreme for them to even survive and gave Cardo Dalisay vibes
that make the whole film cringey.

After seeing the movie, I was torn between two opinions on

the ethics of cloning. Part of me wondered whether cloning was the
right thing to do, or if playing God was risky. Another part of me
wonders what else science can do besides cloning.

The arguments about cloning human beings, which are the

subject of the film, are contemporary and important in today's
society, particularly with regard to stem cell research. It piques the
attention of viewers, as well as students studying Genetic
Engineering in Biology, in the amazing realm of science, where
everyone may learn about the good and harmful aspects of
science's power.
The first birth of a cloned mammal dubbed Dolly was reported
on February 23, 1997. Dolly was a sheep cloned from adult cells.
Cloning Dolly included extracting an egg from one sheep, removing
its DNA-carrying nucleus, merging a cell from another sheep (in
this instance, a cell line from a sheep that had been deceased for
many years), and disorienting the generated cell. The cell that
resulted from this procedure started to grow and divide after the
researchers attempted it 250 times without success. It was
successfully placed in the uterus of a sheep and grew into a healthy
lamb.

Unfortunately, the science underpinning the film 'The Island'

was merely inaccurate, and the scientific hypotheses did not
correspond totally:

Including the scientific notion of how they would be able to

nurture and produce human beings without using the sponsors'
genetic material. Let's assume they received their DNA and
conducted DNA phenotyping and human cloning, which involves
scientists extracting DNA from a fully-grown adult, but how can the
adult's DNA material alone generate a person? We", the film, did
not pay enough attention to detail and elaboration, making it
difficult for spectators to comprehend.

Another question is why, if the cloned person was involved in a

wild pursuit, they didn't have any damaged body parts or bruises?
Will the body reject the cloned body parts if they are transplanted
to the sponsors? Still no answer. What's particularly curious is the
section where Jordan's sponsor remained incurable even with the
cloned body transplant; how come she can't leave even if she has
'clone insurance'? Wasn't the purpose of the clones to be
replacement parts for the sponsors? The whole cloning and curing
process should be error-free. I suppose the sponsor's millions of
dollars were useless when it came to deceiving life.
 This study, which I conducted for the film 'The Island,' shows
that the film's narrative and plot did not match its own. The whole
video was a fiasco, even without the scientific part; it seems like it
was done in two months. It didn't live up to the scientific ideas, sci-
fi genre, or action sequences' expectations. The depiction of genetic
engineering and human cloning in the film is deceitful since it is
false and blatantly fabricated. I'm not upset that they didn't provide
a detailed explanation of how cloning works or how stem cells play
a vital part in cloning. A human embryo is just a developing human
being. Furthermore, creating a clone that is already in mature
human form is technically impossible as it iss absurd

An overarching topic is the hope and science of human

existence. It is shown that being human entails more than just
basic survival, and a man claims that in order to fully exist,
individuals must have some ultimate hope. The movie's middle
section casually portrays the miracles of science in human
existence.
For a better pursuit of the merchandise, the protagonist and
supporting characters should have done more. The screenplay had
the potential to be a fun blend of action thrills and moral depth, but
it seems like it was shot for the sake of action with no intriguing
sections. Instead, the director could have concentrated on the
fascinating realm of science, which is considerably more
fascinating.

Despite the fact that it was directed by Michael Bay, this film
seemed to be promising. It was never really creative but it did have
the ability to go something unique. If I were to direct the film, I
would make it a series in order to properly explain the scientific
ideas and upgrade the CGI to make the picture to be more
engaging.

In conclusion, when considering the possibilities that science

might provide us, I strongly oppose the concept of this movie being
a reality; suggesting it in real life would be absurdly immoral, and it
would also be impossible since most of the sequences are
inaccurate.

If I had to give 'The Island' a rating, I'd give it a 6/10 since it's
a basic sci-fi American film. I enjoyed the movie's premise and
idea, however it seemed that it was just shown to train some
inexperienced filmmaker.

A must-see video that takes a fascinating and terrifying look at

how science may make the unthinkable possible, as well as a future
portrayal of society. This is a must-see for everyone who like a
high-end action adventure with a touch of science. However, if you
are interested in the tale and like science and want to understand
more about how it works, I would not recommend this film to you
since it will seem shallow and confusing because it will leave you
with so many unanswered questions.
 Although it is a thrilling journey of action and science, it is
surely thought-provoking and will generate discussion for years to
come. This suggests that we can't actually escape death or life, so
let's not pretend to be Gods. Let's simply be grateful for what we
have and enjoy the ups and downs of life with the people we care
about.