BEETLE REVIEWS SHUTTER ISLAND

Shutter Island is directed by the fantastic filmmaker Martin Scorsese, and it shows.

from the opening shot of a screen-encompassing thick fog, the film firmly grabs you by the neck of your shirt and drags you inside . The way it is shot is just freakin amazing, The way the camera moves and sweeps over the characters makes the screen feel almost like a window...sometimes the shots are so good the screen completely disapears and you find yourself in the middle of the action; like the scene where Teddy's Car is first approaching the gates to Shutter Island, and the camera spins around to such an angle so that it feels like you are right there in front of the gates as they creak open. It's breathtaking.

Shutter Island follows the exploits of Federal Marshal Teddy Daniels Leo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they are assigned to investigate a dissapearance on the mysterious insane asylum known located on Shutter Island . As Teddy and Chuck dig deeper into the mystery of Shutter Island, the deeper they fall into what may be a trap set for them.

As the film progresses it quickly becomes apparant that Teddy is struggling with some inner demons that are putting him at a greater risk, and causing him to act somewhat more erratically. Will Teddy be able to overcome his demons and triumph over the forces of evil at Shutter Island??

Shutter Island works partly because of the fantastic work all the actors do on the film. There are strong performances all around. Ben Kingsley is great as the creepy and suspicious Dr. Cawley; the head psychiatrist at Shutter Island, Max Von Sydow is perfectly offsettingas the more-or-less head of Shutter Island that may have ties to Nazi Activity, and Jackie Earle Haley puts in a strong performance as George Noyce even though he is only in one scene.

The setting of Shutter island is a character unto itself. With it's electrified perimeter, huge iron gates, and multiple creepy buildings, it all helps get the audience into the tense atmosphere of the film. Oh, and did I mention the bulk of the film takes place during an increasingle violent hurricane?

Shutter Island invites the audience to sit down and take a Journey with U.S. Marshalls Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule as they invistigate an ever expanding and deepening mystery. You're more than welcome to try and figure out what's going on at Shutter Island as well, in fact I encourage you to do just that as it makes the film that much more fun and suspensful. Replete with dreamy hallucinations, suspicious characters, millions of fantastic conspiracies and one mean setting, Shutter Island has all the workings of a creepy masterpiece.

5/5