Shutter Island: Underrated

[returntovoid]

I can't believe that Shutter Island has been ignored critically and got mixed reaction when released. It's definitely 2010's most underrated film. I thought it was the most visually interesting film of the year and had interesting cinematic influences such as Film-noir, Hitchcockian-esque psychological thriller, Gothic horror etc. It could have at least been nominated for best cinematography.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Damn straight!!!

 

[returntovoid]

John Anderson gave it a good review and he has a point about fully realizing it after multiple viewings.

"requires multiple viewings to be fully realized as a work of art. Its process is more important than its story, its structure more important than the almost perfunctory plot twists it perpetrates. It's a thriller, a crime story and a tortured psychological parable about collective guilt." (John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal)

I think time will tell of the film's status, it might become a cult-classic... you never know.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

I agree. Leo's best performance too.

 

[Boom]

I love this movie.

 

[Hurm...]

Absolutely agree. DiCaprio's performance in this is up there with his performance in The Aviator. The only thing I disliked about the film was probably the music. I felt like it's placed during the wrong times in the film. Ruffalo was very good in this as well. I read the book after viewing the trailer and I'm very happy with how they executed it. Scorsese ended the film even better than the way the book did IMO.

Leo's acting in the last flashback was superb. He deserves an Oscar nomination for that scene alone.

 

[Mr.Webs]

One of, if not my favorite, film of 2010. Marty directed the **** out of this movie, from camera tricks to his amazing visual shots. The script is air tight, and the acting is phenomenal. I have no idea how this didn't do better at the awards.

 

[Jackasscoley15]

I was really confused when I heard nothing after watching it in theaters, especially considering that it's Scorsese. I honestly can't name a bad thing about the movie, which is why I'm kind of peeved that a movie like The Kids Are Alright gets a Best Picture nomination, yet a movie that is masterfully crafted like Shutter Island gets swept under the carpet.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Great Shutter Island review:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRsdPjP0Fi4

 

[lime]

Loved the film! It was amazing, and yet so damn underrated.

 

[Panthro]

Shutter Island was a good, well made thriller and should be recognized as such.

 

[Kane52630]

Here's the original thread
http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=287307

and while I do think Shutter Island was utterly fantastic, I dont think you can call it "underrated" when it was a box office and critical success. The only reason you call it "underrated" its because it wasn't nominated for any major awards but as you all know award shows are really meaningless.

 

[gap5ewl]

Completely agree. That movie blows my mind every time I see it! I like how you re-watch it and see things you didn't catch before.

 

[DACrowe]

Loved this movie. It took a fun, but lesser Lehane novel and got to the psychological tragedy and soulfulness at the heart of the story. It's about peeling back the lairs of a psychologically abused man and exploring the effect of violence and guilt has on any individual.

And given that the book was written at the height of the War on Terror and Bush era paranoia, setting it in the days HUAC was very, very clever. The movie captures all of that and Scorsese elevates that potboiler plot into artistry with his semi-Kubrickian/Hitchcockian style. Quite a gem that has DiCaprio's finest performance to date (well tied with The Aviator and The Departed) as well as great supporting work by Sir Ben Kingsley and Michelle Williams.

If this came out in December it would be nominated for BP, DiCaprio for Best Actor and it would have been nominated for Best Cinematography. Williams and Editing may have also gotten nominations. A really underrated film.

 

[Max J Power]

It's easily in my top 5 for the year. I think the negative reviews were mostly that the so-called twist was too predictable. I didn't think that mattered since the plot didn't hinge on it. It was really about the character and atmosphere, which were great.

Acutally, though, I had a friend tell me he didn't like the movie because the twist was too out-of-left-field. Definitely the only person I've heard say that.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

I watched the movie a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty bad actually. Very boring and I knew exactly what was happening about 30 minutes into the movie.

 

[Dark Victory]

I watched the movie a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty bad actually. Very boring and I knew exactly what was happening about 30 minutes into the movie.

Personally, I think that made it more interesting.

 

[Mr.Webs]

Agreed. Hell, even from the trailers before hand, you get a sense of what 'the twist' is. But none of that was really the point. The point was living with this character and feeling what he's feeling, and they conveyed that perfectly, madness and all.

 

[Raiden]

I thought DiCaprio should've received a nom for Shuttered Island, if not Inception. I think the studio dropped the ball on SI by releasing it too early in 2010, and making it ineligible for Oscar until 2011. Those Academy voters have very short-term memory, and they won't remember a movie that came out so long ago.

 

[chaseter]

I watched the movie a few weeks ago and thought it was pretty bad actually. Very boring and I knew exactly what was happening about 30 minutes into the movie.

I knew too but I also knew there was a twist so the twist was that there was no twist.

It was a good movie, it just has no replay value to me. Leo's performance in this was a helluva lot better than in Inception but Mark Ruffalo to me was the weak link in this movie. But, overall it was a quality flick. Best movie of 2010? Nah.

 

[bullets]

John Anderson gave it a good review and he has a point about fully realizing it after multiple viewings.

"requires multiple viewings to be fully realized as a work of art. Its process is more important than its story, its structure more important than the almost perfunctory plot twists it perpetrates. It's a thriller, a crime story and a tortured psychological parable about collective guilt." (John Anderson, The Wall Street Journal)

I think time will tell of the film's status, it might become a cult-classic... you never know.

I definitely found more appreciation for the film when I watched it for the second time . I think some people focus too much on the twist but it's a layered and unique film . Leo also gives one of his best performances. I'm surprised this film seems to have been overlooked.

 

[Majik1387]

This movie was a overly predictable piece of ****.

 

[Tron Bonne]

I liked it pretty well, probably better than a lot of the critics, but I don't think it's as good as many on here do by any means. I have only watched it once, might give it another shot when I can grab a cheaper Blu-ray copy or something, but can't say I'm in the biggest hurry or anything. Probably the aspect I tend to agree on is Leo's performance, which was pretty spectacular

I also kind of doubt it would have garnered any Oscars, either. Scorsese obviously isn't an Academy favorite and this isn't the kind of film they really recognize all that often.

 

[AVEITWITHJAMON]

I actually thought it was over-rated, but someone told me the ending before I saw it so I am 100% sure this is why, great performance by Leo though.

 

[Octoberist]

I liked it enough and it featured one of Leo's best performances. I just couldn't believe that they would go through what they had to with the plot's reveal. It's too much work for ONE GUY.