In the end a good story but still flawed film.

Rating: 7/10 (4 November 2010)

With names like Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio in the credits I felt like this could and should be a great film. And the beginning of Shutter Island immediately put my hopes up even higher. It set the tone of a crime thriller set some time ago. But after a while I began feeling somewhat uncertain about it. The film continues slow and doesn't really take off. The tone given by the atmosphere and music manage well the sense of mystery but still I don't sit at the edge as one would have thought. Suspense is something that is totally lacking in this film. A lot of dialogue and the story moves forward so things are happening but it still doesn't really capture my attention in the way one had hoped and thought it would. The acting is good but I somehow feel Leonardo DiCaprio isn't perfect in the lead, nothing wrong with his performance but he doesn't fit the character. The actors who really steal the show are Sir Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow, they are simply brilliant in all their scenes. However I feel the characters in this film are a bit wooden and hard to relate with. That the viewer doesn't feel much for the characters is a big weakness for a film. But the acting and directing is good so maybe the script is to blame. This brings me to the dialogue which at some parts feel pretty poor and some things that the characters say seem really awkward. The film gets better towards the end when some more interesting things start to happen. There are some strange twists and gets somewhat hard to keep up. The ending resolves some of the things that were set up but also asks some new questions which are left to the viewer to figure out how hold together. But this isn't a bad thing absolutely not, I felt the movie lifts at the end to become alright entertainment. Some surprising twist takes the plot away from any thriller type movie.
The plot is in the end pretty good and entertaining. I have not read the book. But the execution could definitively have been better. The film is presented as a mystery thriller but it lacks any real suspense, other problems include character development and very repetitive music and sound effects. Shutter Island turns out to be quite empty of substance. Good but not that good, I had expected more. Shutter Island is an entertaining film but sadly it's nothing more than just alright.