Shutter Island Movie Review

Martin Hood

Shutter Island- A classic Leonardo Di Caprio role that finishes with a shockingly obvious twist. Once again, it is time to embark on a journey through Leonardo Di Caprios mind, in todays case, Teddy Daniels, an aging World War II veteran now turned US Marshall who is introduced to us vomiting in the bathroom of a ferry rocked left and right by the turbulent waters during its journey out to Shutter Island. The island they seek is some sort of spin off of Alcatraz or Harry Potters Azkaban for that matter. It houses the worst of the worst criminally insane murderers and monsters of the world who the decorated and esteemed head psychiatrist strictly refers to as patients not prisoners. The island is pervaded with ominous hints beginning with horrific looks from deathlylooking patients to notes and clues pointing to missing patients and a ridiculous Nazi experimentation cover-up. Martin Scorcese paints us a classic dreamlike picture of Leonardo di Caprios mind, one which he increasingly has trouble controlling towards the end of the film as the search for the secret of Shutter Island turns into a personal hunt for vengeance on the killer of his late wife, Dolores, who he believes to be hidden somewhere on the island. Visions of his wife blend in to the background of his perspective and he sometimes leaves reality during a series of migraines, which cause him to pass out and awake after a vivid experience that is often quite appalling to the audience. Images of Nazi death camps, firing squads, dead

toddlers, and more pictures of death and decay flash across the screen, and you wonder where this could be taking the plot. Every patient he speaks to, humors Di Caprios suspicions with their jumbled messages, and talk of secrets, torture, and corruption. Is Shutter Island really a place of incessant lobotomies, psychotropic drugging of the patients food, water, and even cigarette supply, and possibly run by an ex-Nazi war camp operator, yes, at certain points this is actually insinuated, or are these ideas only perpetuated into his growing obsession, because these patients are, in fact, criminally insane with disorders ranging from paranoid schizophrenia to extreme cases of manic depression and any where in between. Regardless, all of the patients housed on the island suffer from various psychotic episodes, and nothing they say should have any involvement in a real police investigation, because their words are bi-products of disturbed minds. The absurdity of the investigation seems to peak as we, the audience, begin to realize just how loosely Di Caprio grips reality. From the start of the film it is noticeable that it takes as much as a black and white polaroid of a patient gone missing to induce a mental flashback in the mind of this lead detective, and as the film progresses so due the intensity of the dreams and flashbacks. In a similar fashion to Inception, the stronger his obsession to the case grows, the more real life and his dream world collide until finally the case is solved, and the plot is a lot more believable than the truth he finds. The acting in this movie, altogether, is not so convincing, and is mainly comprised of the cheap imitation Bostonian accents put on by marshal Daniels

and his partner, along with the mildly offensive, stereotypical neo-nazi German spoken by the two doctors old enough to be my great-grandfather. Scripting for the criminally insane seems to use the approach of a teen horror flick with vague yet ominous statements that suggest murder and corruption on the island, but have no real meaning. Ghastly makeup depicting scars from the patients old crimes accompany these incorrect portrayals of older insane asylums and patients. The entire film feels more like a bad dream than a cinematic journey, as each event that occurs as the film progresses is more and more fictional and fairytale-esque then the prior events. From Daniels journey down and then up the face of a cliff to the growing magnitude of each hallucination, the audience feels less and less connection to the film as it progresses frame by frame. Shutter Island is not authentic and not entertaining, but leaves one adrift watching the movie pass by and counting down the time until the credits will flash across the screen, and the patients of the movie theater can feel free to get up and quickly evacuate the premises like a fire or some other emergency situation is occurring. If one is really interested in viewing this film, my advice is to simply wait until this one drops on direct television. You will value the money saved on tickets, drinks, and popcorn more than the immediate satisfaction of viewing this film in theaters. It comes down to simple economics: just dont do it.

Process Reflection

I chose Shutter Island as my film to review, because first off, it was on Netflix, and second, it was a film I have really enjoyed and seen multiple times. I always noticed its similarities to Inception, although it was a precursor to Inception, which is another favorite movie of mine, and I thought it would be fun to write a movie review in the Roger Ebert style that can easily find the flaws and holes in a plot as fantastical as either of these movies, and then exploit these holes in the plot to discredit the movie. I wanted to first begin with a bold catchy statement that introduced which direction the review was going. I wanted someone to read the first sentence and think oh, well he definitely only gave this movie one or two stars. Coming bluntly right off the bat like this establishes my views early on in an assertive way that really leaves no space for the reader to be confused. I then continue through the review jumping from flaw to flaw, anything that would not happen in the real world, and meanwhile I ignore the building tension in the movie, the jump scenes, the wonderful orchestral accompaniment, and the overall eerie creepy vibe the movie gives, and the great acting on all parts. I focus in specifically on things as well as attacking the foundation of the entire film, the idea of the mental facility on an island, with my sarcastic pop culture reference, that I would hope subconsciously changes the way the reader continues through the review. After that comparison the rest of the plot should be easily viewable as unrealistic, and then I can focus on the unrealistic elements and generally make them look stupid.

Near the end of the critical plot summary I devoted a page solely to ripping on every aspect of the film. I talk about how bad the acting is, and in reality the accents are pretty corny in my opinion, and I believe that if I point it out to others, they will agree. However, instead of calling them corny, I refer to them as cheap, imitative, stereotypical, and offensive. I focus strongly on the lines presented by the insane patients of the hospital, who roles in the plot are not as strong as the mentally sound and are never really characterized as the plot moves forward. Their makeup in some cases was frightening, but rather than admitting to its particularly gruesome nature, I made a sarcastic comparison to low quality teen horror movies which are often over the top in their incorporation of visual gore and acts of violence. I then state that the film feels like a bad dream in reference to its fantastical events and far out events, but hope that the reader makes a subconscious connection to my earlier reference to Inception, another film starring Di Caprio where he seems to be stuck living inside of a dream for the entirety of his adult life. A few more harsh criticisms and strong negative comparisons following which strongly rely on metaphors, similes, and other figurative language in order to effectively paint a picture in the readers head of exactly how bad the film is. Finally, I close with a logical thought process based on the economic concepts of rationality and opportunity costs. Since the majority of readers will consider themselves to be rational beings I believe this is a strong closing statement that succinctly summarizes why not to pay to see this movie in about three sentences.