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Shutter Island (No Spoilers Unless Marked)
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All right! Thanks Gabrielle...now I know I can see it. I was really kind of put-off that it seemed to be a senseless plot and styled after a movie like "The Grudge" or "the Ring" (not that those are bad movies...but they aren't my kind of scary movie).I am always excited when Scorcese does a new genre. I believe he said once he wanted to make at least one movie for all the genres. he's doing a good job so far. Even one of his lesser movies is about a hundred times better than some directors best movies.
No, the plot isn't senseless at all, Candy. You might not like the ending, but it does work with the rest of the film. Once you find out the end, you realize there really was no other way for the film to go and that Scorsese played fair with viewers.Let us know your thoughts when you see it. I'm anxious to know what you think.
Though it's difficult to say much about this film (or book, and I had read the book a few years ago), without including spoilers, I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the screenwriter and Martin Scorsese kept the audience a little off balance all the time. You know something is being withheld, you know something is "not right," you know some of the people are lying, but you aren't sure what or who.
This isn't a scary "slice-and-dice" film, though there are some flashback scenes that are a little gory, but just a few scenes. For the most part, this is psychological horror. Because the characters are on an island (and it really is in Boston Harbor), the film has a very claustrophobic feel.
Yes, it's slick, yes it's big budget, yes it's Hollywood, but it's also the product of a veteran filmmaker and a screenwriter who knows how to write, a cinematographer who knows how to get the best shots, etc. We paid more to see it on Ultrascreen and it was well worth it.
It's a very dark movie, though. There's no "comic relief" at all. None. But it's not darkness just for the sake of darkness. Everything works as an organic whole.
I've read that so many people had trouble with the ending, i.e., they didn't understand it. I didn't find any ambiguity in the ending at all, and I think it fit the rest of the film perfectly.
All in all, unless you're a person who needs a very happy ending, I think you'd enjoy this film a lot.