Oh let me count the reasons I wanted to watch Shutter Island. ... Martin Scorsese had just kicked my ass with his amazing Oscar Award-winning feature, The Departed. His career is packed with some of the greatest movies ever made - including Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Cape Fear and Gangs of New York. Then you have Leonardo DiCaprio. "Teen Beat" sensation or not, the guy has a career to aspire to. Titanic, Catch Me If You Can, The Departed (ahem) and one of my personal faves: The Quick and the Dead. Now they are teaming up to tell a horror/mystery/thriller (however the hell you want to classify it) set in 1954 on a remote island surrounded by insane criminals? Hell yeah!

Sadly, the movie never gets as exciting as its premise. As stated, Leo stars as Teddy Daniels - a US Marshal - whose new partner (played by Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac)) have come to a special island dedicated to insane outcasts who are locked up away from the normal people of the world. A woman has mysteriously escaped and our "tortured" Marshall has just days to uncover the mystery - or perhaps become victim to the island's Doctors, who may have more in store for Mr. Daniels than he could have ever imagined!

Sadly, the mystery is pretty paper thin - this reviewer basically unraveled the entire plot upon first viewing the film's trailer. An attempt to make the movie look provocative and exciting (it worked - the movie has made over $50 million US in under two weeks), sadly it just made the movie less spectacle and original - instead bending into several other film ventures seen in the past, including a much better Identity ... the story is not new by any means, and the direction at times comes off as if Scorsese is trying to duplicate Kubrick's amazing work on The Shining. The film boasts virtually no music and at times drags quite a bit and becomes boring. I would fear upon a second viewing any audience member would find themselves taking a nap (the theater I viewed the film in resulted in two individuals snoring quite loud, making the rest of us patrons laugh quite a bit). ... Sadly, while the acting is top notch - the story is intriguing (while unoriginal) and the execution on paper is quite well (I did enjoy the ending), the end result comes off a bit dry and long-winded. Alfred Hitchcock could have cut this 138 minute runtime down to 100 and REALLY amped up the thrills. Check it out if you want to see Jackie Earle Haley in a great cameo - or just to see something not called Avatar for once.

The best word I have seen to describe the movie is "empty"

You get an awesome buildup, even the beginning is great on the boat in the fog and all the talk of this "infamous" place. Then as things begin to come together, you just feel like "that's it'???

Not great, not bad, just sorta eeeeeeeeh.

I was really looking forward to this one just from the trailers. I assumed(and we know what that means) that it was supernaturally based or even a little bit scary. Um, negative. I figured out the premise in the first 15 minutes and could have done without the next 120 minutes. I am a Scorsese and DiCaprio fan but watch The Departed again instead. As mentioned above Jackie Earle Haley( hope he can resemble Englunds shoes) was a treat.

I really liked it.I don't care what anybody says....

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Same here.  I thought the movie was done very well.  

Watching Shutter Island was a great idea. I did not leave the theater feeling dissapointed. It was a little slow, and was not as good as I anticipated. It was almost a great movie, but they shot it on on a Friday and everyone was just ready to go home for the weekend. For sure to be in my DVD collection, but only after its been out for a while, and I get get it for $10.

I never assumed it was really supernatural. I wish it was a little creepier- like that woman that is outside when he first enters the place? But I really liked it. Maybe the story is overused, and maybe it's predictable, but I thought it was good enough. I wouldn't mind buying it, as someone said, when it's been out for a while and is cheaper. I'd add it to my collection, and watch it every once in a while. I wasn't disappointed... but, really, this is really my reintroduction to DiCaprio. I just can't get into him, even if he a good actor... but I liked him well enough in this movie. Maybe I'd be more bummed if I had bothered watching some of those supposedly amazing movies he's in. Who knows.

I was pretty upset that I spent 8 bucks on this film. It's super predictable. Within the first tn minutes, Leo drops a huge hint about the ending...so it was kind of hard to enjoy it after that. The soundtrack had hope at the beginning, but soon began to became monotonous and annoying.

This is the best film so far of 2010.  I watched it having read the book so maybe my perspective is different from others.  Going in knowing what the "mystery" was, I was able to watch Shutter Island as a character study of a guilt ridden psychologically scarred man who must come to terms with his condition.  

Edited:6/23/2010 12:20:30 PM (Klauswhereareyou)

Edited:6/23/2010 12:22:25 PM (Klauswhereareyou)

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I didn't read the book but I still agree with you.  Phenominal movie.  Best movie of 2010?  I can't think of anything else that matches the quality of this one in any way, shape or form.

Leo's final line makes the whole movie.

One of the best movies of the year! i love the works of Scorceses and Dicaprio, this is one of the best horror thrillers around but is the book any good?

And who would compare DiCaprio to Robert Pattinson?