The island was directed, written and starred by singer actor Huang Bo. The rest of the cast includes Shu Qi, Wang Baoqiang, and pop star Lay Zhang. The film's box office sales gained the film150 million Yuan in Taiwan and was also met with copyright claims after another screenwriter stated that the script was similar to her work.
A man wins a two million dollar ticket during his company trip and has ninety days to claim his money but the water taxi is hit by a huge ocean wave sending him to a deserted island. He survives with his other colleagues while not knowing if the world outside the island has been wiped away.....
You might watch the trailer for The Island, thinking that this film is an all out comedy. I thought that's what this film was which was the reason it took me so long to finally watch this film. The Island has comedic elements to the story especially in the beginning. Though, I wouldn't call The island a laugh out loud film in the slightest. I can probably count on my fingers how many times I chuckled during my viewing experience and it wasn't very much. The story overall was engaging until it ran on for too long. This situation the characters were in was basically Tom Hank's Castaway only with more people who let their egos divide them as a collective. That then brought a whole bunch of problems that could have been completely avoided. When you're stuck on a deserted island, everyone becomes on the same level. Your status means nothing when you're trying to survive. Some of the fantasy sequences seemed tacked on at random to the point that even I was questioning if what I saw was real. I'm not going to go much into details that will spoil the film, however, the message of humanity's selfishness mixed in with the misplaced thirst for laughs somehow created an alright film.
The sights on the island looked about as good as any other film dealing with a random deserted island. What was the winner here was the special effects when things started to get dangerous. Those effects are what every film out of Taiwan and mainland China should strive to look like. Instead of like you created the effects with a computer running Windows 98.
Lay acted a hell of a lot better than I expected him to. Especially toward the latter half of the film. I didn't agree with his actions. His actions made me see him differently as a character but he had that in him the whole time. You see how a little bit of power changes people. Honestly, His acting was the only one who stood out to me. The rest of the cast wasn't bad. They just weren't amazing either.
The island is a film you can watch more than once to find something you might have missed. It's a film that feels a bit draggy toward the middle too. Don't go into this film hoping for a good laugh. You won't get one no matter how hard the film tries to make you smile.
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