Shutter Island

Creeping into theaters Feb. 19, "Shutter Island" is the latest effort by legendary director Martin Scorsese and his go-to protagonist Leonardo DiCaprio. Based on Dennis Lehane's book of the same name, "Shutter Island" presents itself as a gripping mystery thriller aimed at luring audiences into its dark corners. Despite the talent at hand, however, the film suffers from an unoriginal plot and throws way too many clues at the viewer to keep them engaged.

The story revolves around U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo). They have been sent to investigate the disappearance of a woman named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) from the institute for the criminally insane set up at Shutter Island. Throughout their investigation they have to deal with the head psychiatrist Dr. Crawley (Ben Kingsley) constantly hovering over their shoulder. As one would expect, the investigation becomes much more than a simple search pattern, and soon enough the audience learns the real motives behind Teddy taking on this assignment and what is really happening on this island.

From the determined DiCaprio dealing with the tortured psyche of the character, to the appropriately mysterious Kinsley delivering his lines with an air of superiority and control despite the situation at hand, the film is well acted all around. However, Mark Ruffalo's character seems to only be playing the Robin to DiCaprio's Batman. In the few lines he does have he asks what they should do next. He even has to deal with the broken mind of a genius.

Needless to say, the best character in the whole film is the island itself. The atmosphere set-up for the film is overwhelmingly beyond belief. Scorsese has done an amazing job with the setting, setting up countless symmetrical shots throughout the film, almost as if trying to create a sense of calm in this lunatic island. The oppressive setting never lets the audience go, always making them feel uneasy.

However, despite the hype brought up by the trailers this is not a scary film. "Shutter Island" is set up as a type of film noir crime thriller, a tactic which is refreshing now a days due to a lack of movies like this. It is for that reason than when it tries to be scary, it fails miserably. When the marshals enter the C ward, an abandoned Civil War fort modified to hold the most violent and insane patients, the film switches to a haunted house ride. The looming atmosphere is still there, but now lights are turning off, people are screaming, glass is shattering; it does not fit in well with the rest of the film and it was shoddy filmmaking.

Turning this film into a mystery drama, probably to keep it in line with the book, is when one of the biggest problems rears its head. Despite the strong acting and initial interest in the plot, it simply has a clichéd ending. If you are as observant as Teddy Daniels you will see it coming from a mile away, and when the big reveal occurs near the end, you will have to sit for another half hour as they explain exactly what happened. When someone already knows what was meant to happen from all the clues set throughout the film, it causes the ending to drag worse than the last half hour of "The Return of the King."

This is not Scorsese's best work. His talent in filmmaking is present, but the poorly delivered story really drags it down. It has a very solid start and if one does not figure out the ending it can really make the final twist catch you off guard. Yet, in a film that is begging for scrutiny of the clues from the audience, you would think they wouldn't be so obvious. It's not a bad film by any means, one just needs to hang their detective hat at the door when entering and let the island make them their patient.