The Island (2023)
★★ — The Island (2023)
Shot almost entirely on location in St. Kitts and Nevis, this 2023 action picture was produced by MSR Media SKN, a company with a stated mission of building a sustainable film industry in the Eastern Caribbean. Director Shaun Paul Piccinino is a journeyman of the direct-to-video circuit, having worked steadily across low-budget action and thriller productions throughout the 2010s and 2020s. Michael Jai White, a martial artist and actor perhaps best known for playing Spawn in the 1997 superhero film and for his cult favourite Black Dynamite (2009), takes the lead here, joined by Twilight alumnus Jackson Rathbone in a supporting role. The production is modest by any measure, and its theatrical revenue of just under forty thousand dollars confirms its status as a platform title rather than a theatrical release.
A-Z World Movie Tour St Kitts and Nevis The Island with Michael Jai White is about as close to proper cinema as a karate kick to the face, meaning, not very. It’s a direct-to-TV action flick through and through: cheap sets, bad acting, and a plot so paper-thin it might as well be written on a napkin. White plays a man returning to his Caribbean home only to get caught up in some nonsense about gangsters and hidden secrets. Honestly, you’ll forget the story five minutes after it ends. The dialogue is laughable, the acting is stiff and every emotional moment lands with a thud. You can practically hear the crew saying “just do it again, we can’t afford reshoots.” The fight scenes are OK (White still moves well) but they’re shot too close and edited too fast to really shine. It’s all very there, but never exciting. That said, it’s so dumb and low-budget that it almost loops back to being fun, if you’re in the right mood, with mates, and a few beers. The cinematography is pretty good too. It’s not awful awful, just forgettably cheesy.
Rating: ★★ | Year: 2023 | Watched: 2025-08-28
Where to watch (UK)
Stream: Amazon Prime Video · Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
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Physical: Amazon UK
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More with Michael Jai White: Black Dynamite (2009)
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More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
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