Shutter Island

Rating: 9.0/10
Genre: Suspense Thriller

Overall value for time and money: 9.2/10

Story: 4/5

Twist: 4/5

Cast: 4/5

Mood: 4/5 (a mix of intense suspense and malancholy)

Soundtrack: 3/5 (the score was the scariest element of the movie, making the movie feel scarier than it actually was)

Script: 4/5

Logic: 2.5/5

A U.S marshal lands on a deserted island for the criminally insane, Shutter Island to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a psychotic mother who killed her 3 children. Scary as it sounds, and true to some extend, I wouldn't exactly call this a horror film.

It has the "Alfred Hitchcock" feel to it, though I haven't caught any such films but its quite the melancholy, dark, detective film noir type movie. After the low budget Bounty Hunter, this movie is evidence of what a professional, seemingly high budget movie should feel like. Great scripts, great cast, great story. The shocks in this movie are pretty predictable so you won't have to worry about having nightmares.

Even though it sounds almost perfect, putting additional thought into it for the past few days after viewing it made it less perfect than it actually felt at the time of viewing. So, don't commit the same mistake as I did, watch it for its entirety and just savor the "grandeur" of such a sophiscated detective thriller. I mean afterall, what less can we expect from the grandmaster of such movies, Martin Scorsese? There's lotsa of his trademark directing which featured confortations of 2 characters in the same frame of the movie, one in the background focused, and in the foreground who is usually off-focused. And these confrontations were usually intense, well-scripted and didn't add any "drag" to the film.

The twist in the story might come to some in the midst of the movie, but its actually more complicated than it seemed. When everything came to light, while the impact might differ for different viewers, I'm positive that all... would feel a sense of awe at the very end. The ending line which Leonardo Dicaprio made was one of the most powerful lines I've heard, in the context of the movie that is. I'm not sure if its another director's trademark which leaves one thinking or almost "hanging" at the end because the ending wasn't "definite", but it really leaves a lingering yet pleasant afterthought about the movie. Impressive, is the one word to sum this movie up. And for those of you who haven't caught it, don't miss this one-of-its kind film on the big screens, and stop reading here. But for those who have caught it, here's the most "exciting" part of my critique... the spoilers. *spoilers ahead*

The reason why I felt that the film wasn't quite complete was because after thinking back, there were lots of scenes which didn't make sense. True, the twist in the ending did create that "awe" but upon deeper thinking, well... not all of it linked. Knowing how some of you might still read on even though you haven't caught the film, I will not include major spoilers in my critique. In the context of unrevealing the mystery behind shutter island, the starting scene which featured Leonardo and his partner on a ferry to their destination didn't make sense. Where does that scene fall into place through all that "investigation?" chronologically? And the supposed reappearance of the insane mother, and her confrontation with Leonardo Dicaprio. The way she reacted... was it real? Or was it a role-play? Either way, both scenarios doesn't make sense. Also, why was there a bald insane woman putting her fingers to her lips and asking Leonardo Dicaprio to "shhhh"? There must be a reason behind that scene.... but it seemed... it really was a random scene after all.

I'm sure there are many other "loop holes" in the movie but those mentioned were the most pressing issues which made me stop thinking because I knew as solid as the plot might have been, I don't believe the entire plot and development was "beautifully" and throughly planned. There were too many scenes to throw you off that path, but those alternative routes seemed only to have 1 purpose, to deter you from uncovering the "truth". Once again, one of the better films I've caught this month and probably this year so far, so don't miss it!!