Director Michael Bay now has his own version of a Philip K. Dick-type sci-fi movie, and this may be a sign that the genre finally has been fully integrated into the mainstream. Warnings of such a paradigm shift came last year when I, Robot was released as a clumsy melding of sci-fi concepts and action movie. The Island is this year's I, Robot, and although it more seamlessly integrates and presents its action, its themes are starting to feel like used parts. Tellingly, the film's explosive chase/stunt sequences seem more interesting than the intelligent concepts which should be its core; it's like a small-town rock band hitting it big after sacrificing much of its home-grown charm by becoming more professionally polished.

The Island is the latest direct descendant of Blade Runner in terms of its central ethical dilemma, i.e., when do we human beings start caring for a synthetic creation that has sentience all its own (which, by extension, means being able to meaningfully increase one's sphere of compassion)? Most of the time, the subjects are robots; here, they're clones. Even so, there's a been-there-done-that feeling that the material  can't avoid now; however, this in itself is not necessarily detrimental. But the idea isn't explored in a way that feels intriguing -- and that's what hurts.

Part of this problem results from presentation -- it's a lot of conspicuously borrowed parts. It's as if The Island dunked its arms into the well of the sci-fi movie universe and came out with ingredients for a consummate watered-down pastiche. Elements of Logan's Run, THX-1138, The Matrix, Blade Runner and more all show up in one way or another here, from the story concepts to the visuals. To be perfectly honest, it all looks pretty good and goes down easy, but that speaks of its weaknesses as well. Science fiction is meant to be challenging, often with moral dilemmas for the protagonists. In The Island, once we establish we're on the side of the escaping clones (and why wouldn't we be?), we just watch the movie run with it and follow along.

If the movie starts out with a grey potential, it's quick to alter its shades to black-and-white for the convenience of the audience. When the mystery is presented at the beginning, the story has all kinds of directions to follow, but by the middle the brain is off and the chase is on. It reaches a fascinating point at the end of the second act -- you'll know what part I mean because you'll be paying a lot more attention to Ewan McGregor. But even here an opportunity to create an ethical challenge is wasted by the movie's eagerness to create another convenient villain. Meanwhile, the third and final act feels out of place for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which involves a character's unconvincing change of heart and an illogical increase in the ingenuity of certain other characters.

At least The Island isn't boring. As an action movie, it's a little less macho silly than Bay's collaborations with producer Jerry Bruckheimer (this movie counts as Bay's first flight without him). His actors are more believable in their roles, and his explosive set pieces command the screen as well as they always have. He's assisted by a hazy sunlit cinematography and a presentation of the future as a dystopic utopia -- both evolved from its predecessors I, Robot and Minority Report, all of which helped to replace dark, neon cyberpunk with gleaming corporation-produced surfaces as the current fashionable vision of the decades to come. Very conspicuous product placement also seems to have found a home in these environments. These are the prices this genre of sci-fi has paid to reach wider audiences. It ups the ante in its attempts to excite its viewers while it gets them to think -- but not as much as it used to.

(Released by DreamWorks/Warner Bros. and rated "PG-13" for intense sequences of violence and action, some sexuality and language.)

Also posted on www.windowtothemovies.com.