Review: Shutter Island

Rodney 53 Comments

Thanks for checking out our Shutter Island review.

Genre: Suspense Drama
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Staring:Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine
Released: February 19, 2010

THE GENERAL IDEA

Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. Once there its revealed that Teddy has his own agenda, tracking down a criminal he has a personal agenda against.

THE GOOD

The cast is perfect. Of course I have yet to be disappointed by DiCaprio (The Beach doesn’t exist to me – shuddap) and the rest of the cast fits in perfectly as well. DiCaprio’s Boston dialect is dead on, and surprisingly Mark Ruffalo steps up from his normal light fare to deliver a wonderful supporting role as Teddy’s assistant. And Kingsley is just delicious as the resident psychiatrist.

This is a real thinking movie. It will have you on your toes the whole time trying to “figure it out” and you wont. Like a lot of Scorsese films, each detail is important and is a brick being laid down in constructing the film. When something seems random, 15 minutes later something happens that tells you it wasn’t. And by the time you get all the details straight you realize that there is a solid beautifully built wall in front of you.

Don’t go pee. Don’t order the big pop. Get comfy. With 2 hours of actual film, this requires you to watch every detail of the film. Everything is important. Nothing is fluff. It all matters.

The film keeps you in the dark, which just makes you feel the US Marshall’s frustration even more. And the last 5 minutes of the film makes it ALL worth it. The most brilliant part of the plot is in the conclusion when it all makes sense and the crime is solved.

THE BAD

The film is confusing – on purpose. You have to be patient as it is all explained, and is so worth it. I have heard a number of people say they were too confused about the film and it left them lost. Be patient and pay attention and it all works. Its an unorthodox delivery which some may find disorienting, but it all comes together.

Aside from keeping you in the dark, which is part of the point, I don’t have much bad to say about this movie.

OVERALL

A very deep and thought provoking film. The closing statement from Teddy will have you blown away and thinking long after the credits have rolled. I don’t know if there is a greater compliment to give a movie than to say it rolls on in the mind long after it ends.

I give Shutter Island an 8 out of 10

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53 thoughts on “Review: Shutter Island”

  1. Could someone please explain to me what seems so obvious to everyone else? After watching the movie…I really have no idea what the “reveal” is. ???

  2. I cannot say enough about this movie… …in the fact that it took two hours of my life that I will never get back. The only character that made me care about them was Max Von Sydow’s, and only because he was the only character not happily ‘playing along’ with the ruse.

    I was told “there’s a huge twist at the end you won’t see coming”, but I’ve seen enough movies to see it coming, pretty much right from the beginning at the movie. About an hour in, I thought to myself, “oh, please don’t let it be so-and-so of an ending”, and it was. The film was formulaic, the ending was visible from miles away, and I think Martin Scorsese needs to be more selective in the films he is going to make. Goodfellas, and some of his earlier work are a testament to a Director who is ‘Bigger Than Life’, and Shutter Island was so beneath his talent.

    I expected better. People have compared the movie to “The Sixth Sense”, but I cannot say enough of how slow and repetitious this film was. Even the last line Leo delivers is not enough to make the previous two hours worth the price of admission. Had I known now what I knew before walking in, I would advise the viewer to wait until the movie comes to regular TV.

    There is nothing original here. I really, really hoped for more.

  3. Dude, Napolean Dynamite was legendary(o.k. not legendary but good!)

    The only movies that are O.K. to walk-out on are anything Mark Wahlberg(lead roles) or M. Night Shalaman (after Unbreakable) and still opinion on it.

    (Boogie-Night’s being the only Wahlberg exception).

    HA

    1. Watch Four Brothers or The Yards sometime. I hope it changes your mind.Wahlberg was bad in The Happening but I dont understand how that is his fault, it is the douchebag Shaymlan.Max Payne was a bad movie but he was cool.

  4. I thought the movie was great, but it would have been A LOT better if it wasn’t for the trailers and commercials. I knew what was going to happen in the end..it was obvious – it sort of reminded me of A Beautiful Mind. Everything about the movie is perfect..but I think that it would’ve been even better if I knew nothing about the film and a couple of months from now when it comes out on DVD – I rented it and saw it for the first time then.

  5. I actually disagree with the last two statements regarding walking out on a movie. I have never actually “walked out” of any movie, but I will never finish watching that asinine turd Napolean Dynamite. I feel that when you sat through any part of a movie, you can have an opinion.

    To stay on topic, I’ve heard from many people that not only is the ending predictable, but it actually cheapens the rest of the film. A lot of them left saying…meh. A fantastically filmed and acted movie that just kinda falls flat at the end. Granted, I haven’t seen it yet, and it didn’t particularly look that interesting to me (I think Scorsese is a bit overrated, still riding his earlier work). But, Ill probably end up seeing at least on DVD, and who knows…I might like it. I’m not ruling it out, I’m just not going to get my hopes up. especially considering I had really hoped it wouldn’t go the Identity route, which the trailers implied, and instad brought something unexpected.

    Damn shyamalan and his Sixth Sense. Now every director has to have their signature “twist” moment(s).

    1. How can you pass judgement on a movie you only assume sucked? If you didnt watch the whole thing, you dont get the right to judge the whole thing.

      Forever you will have to say “I thought the first half of that movie sucked” but you cannot claim to judge the whole movie.

      There was a NY Post Reviewer who gave a poor review to Moulin Rouge because she didnt like Kidman being portrayed as a hooker and walked out 15 minutes in. Completely missing the whole point of the film.

  7. What the heck, no mention in your review Rodney of this being a creepy or scary kind of flick. The trailer sure make it seem that way, but your review makes it sound like any other Scorcese film.
    So what gives? Is this a creepy/scary film, or does the trailer mislead?

  8. I’m surprised at all of the negative reviews by professional critics and poor responses here. If you think the point of the story was the “reveal” towards the end, you’re missing the point of the whole thing.

    There is so much more at play in this film than the “reveal”, which is why some people were able to guess what the “reveal” was from the trailer. I felt I had figured it all out from the trailer also, but the expanse of everything that goes on in the story drew me in at a much deeper level. So much that the “reveal” was just a piece of the pie.

  10. Rodney, this is a very rare instance where you and I see precisely eye to eye.

    I must add though, seeing some of the CG hurricaine shots and some obviously green screened backgrounds in a Scorsese film was a bit off putting for me.

  11. I fear that people are overrating this movie becuase it was made by Scorsese. The movie is well made and well acted but the story is lacking. I was fooled by the trailer. I was hoping for something more like “Se7en” set on a creepy island. Instead, I got a polished re-hash of “Identity” on a creepy island. My bad for being fooled by the trailer. It’s probably a good movie if you haven’t seen “Identity”. But if you have, this movie is a complete waste of time any money. Easily one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time.

  12. I was so happy with this film. The book was mind blowing and I was very happy that Scorsese stuck so close to its mood. I took my teenage sister to see it and she loved it too. I 100% agree about the last line leaving you thinkig. We discussed this film all the way home and are telling everyone how good it was. I would also like to add the fact that Michelle Williams played the manic wife role well. If they had released this for oscar contention I bet she wuld have gotten an oscar nom.

  13. this movie was a great movie. i expected it to be just as the preview portrayed it but it was totally different but in a brillant way. Throughout the movie some things seemed shady and so predictable that i was able to conclude that it wasnt so simple as it may haved seemed. i wasnt surprised with the outcome, for some odd reason i was able to put two in two together before the truth actually was revealed at the end. overall i would give this movie a 9 on a 10 scale and i would reccomend it to anyone! Great job!

  15. Good to know you thought the movie was great.
    The trailers don’t give away too much of the plot or ending of the movie? It kinda seemed to me like they hinted at the ending a lot in the teasers and TV spots…

  17. I had read the novel before seeing the movie so was watching the film in a whole different perspective. I love how faithful the movie is to the book and that it keeps it all subtle and not throwing the answers at you.
    As the Rodney stated, it is a thinking film. I work at a theater and was telling the audience to pay close attention to everything going on and being said. Of course half them didn’t. =\

    1. Yes, some people are able to figure out how it will end. These are the ones that figured out Bruce Willis was a ghost in Sixth Sense. Most movie goers will not see it coming so try not to spoil it for them.
      =)

  18. did no one else guess the ending before it happened?
    it was similair to the uninvited, hide and seek, my bloody valentine just to name a few.
    the only thing that set this film apart from those were the casting and execution.
    this film was very good.

    1. they alluded to it in the trailer, i think they wanted us to know so we could unfold how its possible as take in the movie… maybe. it could have just been a poorly made trailer.

    2. I agree. I thought about the “Identity” ending the entire movie. Still a strangely entertaining film and done quite beautifully, but I guessed the ending (except for a few plot points). “Identity” surprised me more.

  19. Funny thing about this movie.

    I saw the trailer months ago and said that I know how this movie will end and I was right. There’s one part that confirms it right away, clear as day. But after that point in the movie, I get so into the story that by time the end does come, I’m completely not expecting it to end the way I thought it would. It does and I am a little disappointed, but it is still somewhat of a surprise.

    It’s really the fault of the trailer more than anything.

      1. I wasn’t clear sorry.

        The trailer as a whole lead me to believe the movie would end a certain way.

        The part I am talking about was in the movie, not trailer. It would have went unnoticed if I wasn’t already expecting the movie to end a certain way.

        But like I said, I got so wrapped up in the story after that point that I wasn’t expecting it to end that way anymore.

    2. plus what was sadly given away in the trailer isnt the point of the movie. I almost wonder if they gave it away (some might say alluded) on purpose because its really Leo’s last line that wraps the movie into a fully cohesive idea.

  23. great review, will we see a video movie review anytime soon for upcoming films,cuz waht got me attach to the movieblog, other than any other film site, is the video reviews.

  24. I agree the film was fantastic and Leo was brilliant in the role. I will be interested in seeing it again from the perspective of already knowing the end now. It seems there is probably a lot going on the first time that you don’t catch because you don’t know the ending. This movie did stay with me for quite awhile after it was over. Scorsese and DiCaprio continue to succeed with their partnership in film. I will be looking forward to their next one.

  25. “The most brilliant part of the plot is in the conclusion when it all makes sense and the crime is solved.”

    Sounds like the real “Sherlock Holmes” to me.

    After reading your review the 8 out of 10 is kinda confusing me. Sounds more like a flawless 10 out of 10 in this specific genre.

      1. James says:
        February 23, 2010 at 2:07 pm
        WOAH! OH MY GOD this movie was PHENOMENAL.

        I couldnt bring myself to give it a 100% but i gave it a 99.

        May i ask why you gave this film such a low score?

        Some people said it was too weird (i personally loved it)

        ***

        So which is it? 99/100 or 10/10? The Math don’t add up!

  27. WOAH! OH MY GOD this movie was PHENOMENAL.

    I couldnt bring myself to give it a 100% but i gave it a 99.

    May i ask why you gave this film such a low score?

    Some people said it was too weird (i personally loved it)

      1. i agree with you on the dry. it only happens maybe 3 times in some long dialogue scenes. but the information given is pertinent in both creating questions and unfolding the story.

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