Psychological thriller plays foil to CGI movie trend
By Andrew Nisargand
'Shutter Island' left me completely dumbfounded. Two friends came with me, and we all walked out completely flabbergasted by this film's level of pure insanity. Don't get me wrong; that insanity is what makes this movie amazing and in a way it is Scorsese's mark on a film by making it completely off-the-wall.
Unfortunately, since I don't like revealing much about plot when reviewing, that really won't be covered. See this is the main problem with reviewing this kind of thriller, you can't really review anything without revealing the plot. But let's dive in anyway.
There were some ups and downs, but here are some of the positives. The acting is fantastic. I don't care what people say about Leonardo DiCaprio, he is a fantastic actor and well deserving of his status as one of the best actors of the modern era.
He satisfies expectations of a hauntingly chilling performance as his character, detective Edward Daniels searches for a lost patient of the Island. Ben Kingsley also performs well and does a great job of making his character terrifying.
I have no idea how this man pulled off Gandhi earlier in his career, but Kingsley isn't scary in this movie. His character is violent either and rarely raises his voice, he just has this massive aura of power about him.
There is really only one negative--the musical score. I seem to be delving into this more and more often, but the score really does detract from the general feel of this movie.
To give an example, the opening scene shows the two detectives headed into the Shutter Island complex and the background music is a loud Jaws-style tune that was out of place for the scene.
"Shutter Island" can be compared to previous box office hits from this year. It can be seen as the perfect counter to a film like Avatar. This movie is based solely upon atmosphere, setting, characters and plot which stands completely in contrast with the main idea of modern movie making, as illustrated by Avatar, Transformers and other major special effects blockbusters.
On a downside, there is very little action. Although the action is subtle, the movie overall messes with your mind and leaves the viewer in shock thinking, "this is it?"
This movie is perhaps the most intense thing I have ever seen since Seven.
Truthfully, this is why I view this style as the epitome of movie making. Films should be based upon the magnificent stories and characters that are created and are given life by the actors.
I would like to see more movies like this that prove that movie making does not need to be a special effects extravaganza.
Overall, this movie is fantastic. It is a noir, mystery and thriller that touches every bit of these genres and are given new life by Scorsese.
The acting is fantastic, the plot is insane and it takes full advantage of its characters. The setting and atmosphere enhance the story.
One warning: this movie is intensely creepy. I can't go into detail because of the whole non-spoiler factor but I will say, you're going to be seeing many, many corpses. So if you can't handle it, don't watch it. For the rest of you, go see it.
But why should you believe me, it's Scorsese, you should already be out there watching it.
Rating: 9.0/10
Contact Andrew Nisargand at anisargand@scu.edu or (408)554-1918.