I had no idea what I was getting into here when I sat down to watch the 2018 movie "The Island" (aka "Yi chu hao xi"). In fact, I hadn't even heard about the movie prior to now in 2021, as I sat down to watch it. Needless to say that of course I would watch it, given the fact that it is an Asian movie that I hadn't already seen.
And when I saw that the movie had Qi Shu and Bo Huang on the cast list, I must admit that I got thrilled, because these are some very good Chinese performers. So with them on the cast list, I believed that I might be in for a good movie. Not only did the story have a good pacing, but it also had a very nice flow to it.
Turns out that "The Island" was a rather enjoyable movie. Sure, it was running at about 2 hours and 15 minutes, but the movie had a great pacing to it, and the storyline was nicely constructed by writers Siwei Cui, Junli Guo, Bo Huang, Zhanzhong Huang, Aina Xing, Muchun Zha and Ji Zhang.
Now I am impressed to find out that Bo Huang not only starred in the movie, but he also was one of the writers and he also directed the movie. So color me impressed here.
"The Island" is a movie in the likes of "Castaway", except with a bit more people marooned on the island. And the drama, friendships and love that develops on the island helps carry the movie greatly along.
I was genuinely impressed with director Bo Huang's 2018 movie here, and if you get a chance to sit down to watch it, you most certainly should do so. My rating of "The Island" settles on well-deserved seven out of ten stars.