Boy am I glad I watched Shutter Island again. The first viewing, last Thursday, in a terribly inebriated state, resulted in me seeing about 15 minutes of the movie while falling asleep and generally having no idea what the hell was going on. Add to this the not so stellar reviews it’s been getting and I was well within my rights to give it a miss, but the pride I have misplaced in my unofficial movie reviewer role got the better of me.
Firstly, what’s with all the negativity surrounding it?! Scorsese might have bitten off more than he could chew with that ending and the amount of information that was crammed into it, but god damn the journey there was enjoyable. The score was just perfect, with those heavy, jarring violins so beautifully capturing the mood [apparently it sounds Hitchcockian, like Vertigo], and then there’s the imagery.
Every second of that first dream sequence was to die for, and seems so far removed from what I’ve seen of Scorsese. I absolutely loved all the war flashbacks and Ward C scene with Jackie Earle Haley, with an oh-so-creepy Michelle Williams towards the end of the movie. I don’t know if I even need to mention DiCaprio, but good lord he totally owns the movie, churning out another spellbinding performance. Can anyone else really pull this kind of role off?
c0up 
I hated watching it. It was so slow and boring. Especially that I have read the book and knew exactly what was going to happen. I am blaming you.
You read the book, didn’t particularly like it, yet you watched the movie? The only reason I would ever watch a book adaptation I’ve read is if I really liked the book and wanted to see how well the characters and world were realised. Seems like you got your just desserts!