"Shutter Island"

I'm a bit torn on this movie. My initial impression is that I really liked this movie. It was tense, which is my favorite emotion to feel whilst watching a movie, and it was just a well crafted film. Martin Scorsese is obviously a very gifted director and he did a superb job in "Shutter Island." I loved the mood of the entire movie that was set through grim, eerie production design; dark, contrasting cinematography; and great acting performances. At times it felt as if you were watching an older thriller or horror movie with overdramatic music telling you the mood. Other times it was a genuine mood of tension incited by the situation and how it was presented. But the real genius in the use of these two types of mood setting is how perfectly balanced they were and appropriate they were to the given situation and point in the movie. I never felt like one took away from the other or was used poorly. Honestly, for the majority of the movie I would dare say I loved this movie. So why is it endings always have to ruin movies? This is one of those endings where it is the ultimate slap in the face, a kick in the junk, a pulling back of the curtain only to find that the great Wizard is nothing but an old man. I suspected such an ending fairly early on in the movie but thought that the great Mr. Scorsese would not, and could not, do such a thing. He did such a thing. Another frustrating thing about the ending, is for how much of a cop-out it was, it was just done so well. It's one of those things that it's just a bad idea, but the film dresses it up so nicely, presents it so well, that you almost forget that you just received a giant bolo punch to your ovaries. With that complaint set aside (and it is kind of a big one) that was all that was really holding me back from loving this movie.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1130884/