Shutter Island Review

Set in 1954, Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshal, and his partner head to the remote Shutter Island to investigate the strange disappearance of a female patient who escaped from the hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding somewhere on the island. Unfortunately, all the employees of the hospital have a secret making it difficult for Teddy Daniels to leave.

The original previews for this movie show a creepy, yet mysterious island trapping the U.S. Marshal, Teddy Daniels, and keeping him from leaving the island. It appears to be a scary flick with suspense and creepy characters. It seems the writers were trying so hard to make a story with a perfect twist that they forgot to actually form a story with a brilliant twist.

Throughout the entire movie, confusion was the main theme. Turning out to be more of a mystery than suspense film, the movie winds and twists the viewer's brain until they are hoping the movie ends sooner than it will. Disappointed that it wasn't a scary thriller, I drudged on wondering what in the world was happening.

After leading me to believe one thing, the end finally comes revealing a completely different thing. Loose ends were left everywhere. After leaving the theater I kept thinking, "What was the point of that scene?" and "What ever happened to this?"

The writers seemed to be aiming toward a magnificent twist that would leave the audience in shock and awe. I left the theater wishing they would have ended it my way, which would have been a much better twist. Although I personally didn't catch on until the very end, I should have. The ending was predictable, if I were paying more attention and disappointing.

There wasn't much discussion afterward because the only points to discuss had no final answers. Leaving the audience puzzled and forced to determine conclusions with their imagination is one thing. But leaving the audience puzzled with the finality of the last scene and some points left in the middle of bad plot is poor planning.

It is rated R for language, disturbing violent content, and nudity. There was a lot of language, particularly the F-bomb, and frontal male nudity in one scene. There was some blood and violence and some disturbing images.

This one could have waited until Netflix. At least the popcorn was tasty.