Shutter Island starts off as US Marshalls Edward Daniels (Lianardo Dicaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are on a ship headed to Shutter Island, a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Their job their is to find a escaped convict who the on edge guards have said to have "vanished straight through the walls", and the conspiracies add up and add up from there. If you've been watching the previews, this is hardly the crux of the story, there are a bunch of twists and turns that do what a plot twist should do, answer questions that you wouldn't think of answering.
As far as how everything fits together, there really aren't that many complaints, I was heavily set back in the beginning though. When the pair showed up at the facility the movie felt like it was trying too hard, the music was overly dramatic and the one on one dialogue between Dicaprio and Ruffalo was somewhat weak. That and during the investigation of the missing inmate didn't feel like as big a mystery as it should have been, it became obvious too quickly who in the facility were suspects, the suspicions would've been hidden better. However this is pretty minor, the story quickly picks up once storms prevent the two from leaving by ferry, Edward's intentions shine through his dreams and hallucinations, and those shocking visions are at times the highlights of Shutter Island. The pacing becomes superb, the setting is fantastic and there is barely any cheese after the first fifteen minutes.
This is not a stripped down scare fest, this is a true psychological thriller. As Edward's horrific visions of fighting in World War II among other scenes of death, and hallucinations of his dead wife occur, the conspiracies of the facility seem to come closer to reality; it feels fresh as most filmmakers don't go with this type of storytelling. This does lead to one possible complaint, the major plot twist is closer to the two and a half hour running time and might have worked out for the better if it were just a little earlier. This twist has you rethinking everything about every character and many scenes of the film, but it is a lot of information to grasp, maybe too much. This is also a little awkward because it doesn't end some of the thoughts the viewer might have had anger towards the facility as it's compared to Edward's memories of Nazi concentration camps. On the other hand, it makes multiple viewings very satisfying seeing the setting in an entirely different mindset.
Shutter Island is without a doubt the first great mainstream film of the new decade that even the inconsistencies in the beginning are made understandable by its twists. The acting is great, the story flows well, and even though it's not the scariest movie out there, it feels the psychological thriller vibe. Realizing it's based off a book of the same name, you will tell it probably made more sense as a novel, but that can't stop an inevitable cult following. You will beg for more, that second or third viewing will be very enticing.
4.5/ 5
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