I'd like to think that, if Sloth IS in this plot at all and that the "temple" we just got in was indeed a space craft, that this island is a result of one of his failed experiments - one that got to the point where even he couldn't control it, so he just up and left it. More likely, though, it'll be either the work of a completely new villain who's some kind of mad scientist, or there's some other explanation. Which kinda sucks, seeing as how Neopia has lots of villains already that don't get used. =\
This is old, but so far, the movie I've seen the most parallels with is King Kong (the newer one, directed by Peter Jackson). The part of the island the crew crashes into in the second chapter looks almost
exactly like the one in that movie. In fact, they got lost via a terrible storm too. Going further back, there's also an idealistic youth character, and further still the hiring of a boat and crew to pursue a wild dream - though in King Kong, it was to make a blockbuster movie; in this plot, to find an island. A few people mentioned a few splits back, the very beginning is more like Disney's Atlantis. So as far as story goes, it'll probably be a lot like either of those movies, or possibly even The Island of Dr. Moreau (which this plot did make me think of, though I haven't seen the movie) or even Jurassic Park ("Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark, all the dinosaurs are running wild...").
I'm rambling, sorry, but since there's not much going on yet in the way of plot activity (not that I'm complaining, slow's fine with me!), I'm speculating on how the storyline will go - it might be pretty close to one or more of the movies mentioned. I kinda want to see it veer slightly towards The Most Dangerous Game - Mad Tongue
Murphy's actually taken over the island, the characters wind up trapped on it somehow, and we have to solve more puzzles and/or fight more beasts in order to help them escape.
Heh, that's probably way off, guess we'll see later, eh?