B-Movie perfection

Rating: 8/10 (24 March 2010)

I'm not a huge fan of Scorsese unlike many others, some of his films are perfect (Goodfellas), some make me want to stamp on kittens (Gangs of New York). Shutter Island is a bit of a departure for him. It's a B-Movie. This is not a bad thing, this is a good thing. It's a glorious, wonderful paean to the genre and I absolutely loved it. Think Frank Daradont's Shawshank or The Mist. Actually if you're unconvinced by Scorsese, just pretend Darabont directed it.
Hard-boiled FBI man turns up on remote island, with new partner, to investigate a vanished patient from an mental institution. On entering institution, his gun is taken, patients mouth warnings, head shrink at facility offers him pills, people look shifty, mysterious buildings, Nazi psychiatrists, strange happenings etc etc In short-hand, there're plenty of classical plot opportunities offered up. In the best possible tradition of the genre, all possible plot threads are splayed out in front of the viewer, and then deftly pulled together ever so slightly faster than you could on your own. The twists and turns aren't unimaginable, but the tautness of the pace just drags you along with them - you're not left, as with so many other films of the genre, running increasingly obscure self-postulated theories, of where it's going, through your mind as you watch. If I had to sum up, as the credits rolled I just thought: "That was a good film - I really enjoyed that". No quibbles. Nothing I wanted to change. No bits that dragged. I just sat there for 2 hours came away happy.