There’s an old saying that claims there are only a handful of stories to have ever existed throughout human history, with creative minds doing nothing but repurposing the same narrative beats over and over again since the dawn of time. While that might contain an element of truth, it still doesn’t explain why nobody involved in The Island admitted it was a remake of Logan’s Run.
The tale unfolds in the future, where residents of a secretive subterranean compound enjoy an idyllic existence safe from the terrors of the outside world, where they even get snazzy matching jumpsuits. However, once a shocking truth is uncovered, an inquisitive hero and a semi-reluctant female acquaintance end up escaping to find out what exists beyond the confines of their walled-in lives. That’s enough about Logan’s Run, though, because we’re talking about The Island. No, wait, they’re the same.
It’s ironic that a straightforward remake of the former has remained stuck in development hell for decades, only for an identical blockbuster to emerge with box office behemoth Michael Bay at the helm, which wound up as the first flop of his career. bringing an end to an impressive track record of success that carried through Bad Boys, The Rock, Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, and Bad Boys II.
There are admittedly a couple of fantastic set pieces dotted throughout, but that’s the bare minimum you’d expect from cinema’s pre-eminent master of destructive ceremonies. Reviews weren’t kind, either, but if a recent Reddit thread is to believed, The Island does retain something of an adoring fandom. Logan’s Run is still better, but perhaps the blatant facsimile would have fared better in theaters had it come clean and slapped the title on, because everyone knows Hollywood loves few things more than a repurposed IP.