The 13th Monkey

Title:  Shutter Island

Actors/Director/Anything Worth Mentioning Right Away:  Leonardo Dicaprio, Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley all round out the cast of this movie that you’ve probably seen if not heard of before.

Introduction:  I got this movie from the library on DVD.  It was a big to-do in theaters and I believe it is even in Kane Hodders Top 5 on Rotten Tomatoes.  That was enough to convince me to watch it.

Location:  While it starts on a boat, it takes place mostly on, duh, an island.   You can tell it had a bigger budget look than, say, Safety In Numbers but you do have to wonder how much money from this budget went to pay the actors, as it is a phonebooth movie.

Plot:  Leonardo Dicaprio plays a cop who comes to Shutter Island to discover the truth about what’s going on there after a patient goes missing.   The whole thing is a psychological thriller and *SPOILER ALERT* it ends with a big twist that, quite honestly, I saw coming from a mile away.   Look, I’m all for the “which reality is real” type of plots in movies.   It adds an unknown dimension to the movie that leaves the viewer (hopefully) guessing.  I can see- to an extent- how they wanted to play that card with this movie.  Is the main character really a patient or are they just trying to make it seem as such so they can silence him on what valuable information he’s learned.   Either way, I think this movie loosely steals the plot from 12 Monkeys, a much, much better film.   The only thing I can imagine is that either a) 12 Monkeys wasn’t as big as I thought it was back in the day and my appreciation for it stands alone (like my fascination with Dolph Lundgren) or b) It has been long enough now that the majority of people going to see this movie (say, teenagers) have no idea that a movie such as 12 Monkeys even exists.   It’s like how a teenager could’ve thought that Disturbia was a great new plot and concept, as they have no idea who James Stewart is.   Again, I’m not trying to say that this movie is any direct rip-off of 12 Monkeys, at least not so much as it warrants a lawsuit.   All I’m saying is that this movie is a cheaper, less good version of 12 Monkeys.   And having seen 12 Monkeys, this movie just disappoints me as it was somewhat predictable.

Acting:  It’s what you’d expect from a big budget Hollywood movie.

Production:  See above.

Sex/Nudity:  No, not really, which is good.

Special Effects:  Hollywood, yo, Hollywood.

Overall Verdict:  I’m more likely to watch 12 Monkeys a hundred more times than this movie again.  But so is the problem with this movie.   After watching it once, you’ve uncovered its secret and therefore feel like you are done with it and it can be forgotten—you can move on.  12 Monkeys is a movie that no matter how many times I may watch it, it never gets old for me.  The fact that I’ve seen it before and know the ending makes it no less enjoyable to me, which is the complete opposite of Shutter Island.  I would be a liar if I said I thought I would ever watch Shutter Island again.