Equilibrium

I bought Equilibrium just because Christian Bale is in it. To tell you the truth I was certain that it was going to be a goofy, direct-to-video sci-fi fiasco that most involved would just as soon forget. The cover box reminded me of Universal Soldier. As it turns out however, it's not a movie that those involved want to forget, it's an overlooked gem, no doubt because it came at the height of the Matrix craze, which it may resemble in too many ways. Unfortunately, too many people will callously write it off as a Matrix rip-off, and it's a shame because this is one of the best science fiction films to have come along in quite some time.

It takes place in the far off 21st century, but it's not about the future (given that it exists in a future that can't ever exist), it's about the disturbing reality that war is a part of human nature, and in order to eradicate it from the modern world we would have to become a homogenized society of emotionless, drug-controlled zombies. No jokes about that already being a reality.

The movie's biggest assertion is that it assigns blame for man's inhumanity to man to his ability to feel (ignoring the real causes, such as religion, political power, and less dogmatic things like national pride and human rights). The current government is based on enforcing the mass removal of emotion from the masses using a drug called Prozium, and is the source of the movie's main irony, that in order to eradicate war, it has waged war on all of it's own citizens, who constantly live under close surveillance.

The government employs Grammaton Clerics to handle that surveillance. They are highly trained officers authorized to kill anyone they deem to be "sense offenders" on the spot ("I trust you'll be more vigilant in the future?"). There is, in fact, a staggering amount of irony in the film, given that all emotion or feeling is strictly forbidden under penalty of death, and yet anger, suspicion and fear are all alive and well, and even flaunted. It's also interesting to consider that in real life it is the dogmatic, Cleric-like believers who aspire for war, and the normal people who just want to live their lives.

For the most part the movie ignores the fact that it is governments that wage war, not citizens (even emotionally sensitive ones), but no matter. The important thing that you need to know about the movie is that it goes way, way too far, and because of that, it's fun. I cheered out loud several times during the film because the gun fights, which are so unrealistic it's almost funny, are genuinely well-choreographed and exciting. If I may say so, this is what gun fights in hard core science fiction movies should look like.

Many people criticize the movie for being unrealistic or too extreme, altogether forgetting what kind of movie they're watching in the first place. The movie is not about moral dilemmas, even though the main character suffers a tremendous one, it's a fast, gritty science fiction movie that makes no apologies, and owes none. The characterization may be just a little heavy (Bale's character going from not understanding a question about what he felt when his wife was incinerated to having a soft spot for puppies, etc.), but like another outstanding and equally over-the-top film, Shoot 'Em Up, nothing is out of place. All of the excesses look right at home.

It is interesting to consider the real-world implications of the content of the movie though, regardless of how unrealistic it is. The totalitarian regime, for example, resembles Mao Tse- tung's manner of oppression with startling closeness, even down to the children spying on and reporting their parents. Under Mao, children who reported their parents engaging in "counter'-revolutionary activities" were publicly hailed as national heroes while their parents were generally tortured and executed. Whether the crimes were real or not was unimportant, what mattered is that, as you can imagine, in a society where people were so easily made to desperately fear their own children, you can imagine the level of control the government (Mao) had over the people. Something similar happens in this movie.

The similarities to The Matrix films are obvious, but limited mostly to superficial things like the fight scenes and some costumes. Thematically, the movies are totally different, and even with all of the similarities, this movie is more than able to stand on its own, and any similarities are more just an unfortunate bit of timing, as this is probably what caused the movie to be so overlooked. If you can't handle a little excess in the movies, definitely stay away from this one. But if you can watch a movie just for a good time, you could do a lot worse than this.

Note: Keep your eye out for Dominic Purcell, Prison Break's Lincoln Burrows, in the opening scene. He should have had a bigger role in the movie...

After the third world war had ended, the survivors realised that mankind would not be able to survive much longer if it didn't tackle the thing that makes them fight - emotion. To tackle the drive to hurt and hate, the Government issues drugs to sedate the populace from the highs or lows of feeling. Meanwhile the police round up those who still feel and destroy art, books and anything that would stir feeling. The heads of these police are the elite Clerics. John Preston has always been a Cleric, but the failure of his partner and an encounter with a feeler start him thinking and feeling.

With sighs of `matrix clone' and `cashing in', I, like many viewers overlooked this film in favour of other things that may have come across as more original. However, in the mood for a bit of slick action, I rented this film and was pleasantly surprised by it. The plot may not be original - but what is these days? The film has shades of 1984 and Brave New World about it and it uses these ideas reasonably well. The concept does fall down a little bit with too much thought but on the surface it works well enough to suffice for a sci-fi action movie - the running time doesn't allow for much more than superficial thought here, although there is enough in this future to be thought provoking.

The action is good considering the low budget involved here. Yes, it's all very much thanks to the influence of the Matrix but at least it is quite stylish and exciting in it's own right rather than just being a lazy copy. The action scenes are well spread out over the film and they have good pace despite being very much style over substance. The explanation for all the acrobatics and semi-invincibility here is not as good as the explanation/justification for the same in Matrix, but again it is acceptable for this level of film. If anything, the plot goes too fast and too far - it is difficult to accept that things happen so fast, but generally it works.

The cast is a strange mix but works. The thing that surprised me was the sheer number of British actors in the cast. Bale is good in the lead role despite his American accent, he is pretty cool and manages to do the emotional change required despite the rush enforced on him by the film. Diggs is disappointing - his character doesn't get enough screentime and he doesn't fulfil the role of rival to Bale, he is a good looking guy but that isn't enough here. The support cast features Bean, Pertwee, Connelly, Fincher and McFadyen but really it is totally Bale's movie and he does pretty well to make it together.

Overall this is not a great film but it is an enjoyable action sci-fi that manages to produce an interesting, if unoriginal plot and some slick and fun action that is no less slick or fun for being a low rent version of The Matrix's effects. Well worth a Friday night look!

My review is one on Christian Bale rather than the movie per se. His going from stone-cold to an emotional man is simply flawless. He gets to transmit everything the story needs at the right time. Bale is the greatest actor of his generation and never afraid to get his hands REALLY dirty. He's played a highly controversial psycho (in an admittedly light version of a really crude and insightful novel... But you realise after you watch him, every time you read the novel again HE IS Patrick Bateman), a LITERALLY starving and tormented loner (please see The Machinist if only for his PERFECT, ground-breaking work of art, which includes both his acting skills and his beyond-emaciated body), a hopeful gay teenager turned hopeless adult (Velvet Goldmine, where he's amazingly accurate in a minor -as length goes- role and you really believe he's a shy and lively teenager and minutes later you believe he's a weary, melancholy adult), a conflicted superhero (the best Batman by far, followed by Michael Keaton of course) and all sorts of middle-of-the-road characters. He's not your average mainstream star and he'll never be, I hope... He's too much in love with his work to become that. Good for him.

Equilibrium is a very fine movie. Highly entertaining, the score was more than okay, the casting does a really good job (I liked The Matrix -although I prefer Equilibrium's sobriety and rhythm, which many may find boring-, but come on... The actors were inferior and I'm sorry but Keanu Reeves just can't make it. Where Bale is all complex, nuanced and charismatic, Reeves is just handsome wood) and the fight scenes are beautiful to look at. Cons are the Father, who seemed too weak to me, and the ending which doesn't do justice to what comes before. In any case, this is an above-average sci-fi flick. Take a look.

I've seen this movie 5 times (it's the nature of satellite TV) within the past week and it's true...you catch something you've missed or see something new with every successive viewing. This movie is way ahead of its time, and much better than the over-rated Matrix. Bale is always exceptional, and so is his "Metroland" co-star, Emily Watson. Maybe it's the Anglophile or Brit-flick fan in me, but I must say that the added presence of Sean Bean and Angus MacFadyen all but confirms the pre-eminence of UK acting in quality films. Accompanied by very appropriate techno-musik, the action sequences are fast and Euro-flashy, heavily influenced by Jan De Bont--different from the weird, drawn-out, "suspended/string puppet" thing that apparently passes for martial arts these days. (I miss Bruce Lee)

Anyway, if you haven't seen it, give this a shot. If you already have & weren't impressed, take a look at it again. It will grow on you. See if you're inclined to show up to work the next day looking and acting very much a "Cleric" who missed a Prozium dose.

Receiving a lukewarm at best response from critics on release and faring even worse at the worldwide box office when it was unleashed at the tail end of 2002, earning less than $5 million dollars at the international ticket booths, Kurt Wimmer's dystopian sci-fi Equilibrium has slowly but steadily gained a significant genre following in the near 20 years on from its initial release.

Taking liberally from George Orwell's revered 1984 and other similar films, Equilibrium's narrative focuses around a world ravaged by global warfare that has decided the best way forward for the human race is to squash the very instinct to feel or show emotion, as its society is policed by a gun-fu (you can only understand it once you see it) savvy police force and dictated by a mysterious leader who rules with pharmaceutical drugs designed specifically to ensure an obedient and predictable population.

It's a loaded subject matter and one with ample potential to explore and examine and it's fair to say Wimmer doesn't delve too much into the finer details of his concept as he instead keeps his film relatively narrow in scope as it centres around Christian Bale's long serving and dedicated government agent John Preston who finds himself beginning to look at life with a different set of eyes that could indeed begin to unleash his natural feelings and thoughts that have long been curtailed by the world he lives and serves in.

For such a unique concept, much of Equilibrium is fairly predictable, with Wimmer following a well trodden path towards his end game with it disappointing that the film doesn't explore much of its ideas in too much depth with the idea of the resistance force building against this new way of life or even Preston's backstory/family life not getting a lot of time to grow or make us feel much in the way of genuine emotion but there's still a fun time too be had with the film we end up getting.

The type of film that would've nowadays gotten a fair amount of airplay in the modern streaming climate, this is absolutely the type of material Netflix would overpay for the rights too, Equilibrium's lack of storytelling smarts or inability to grow much from its initial conception doesn't stop it from being an enjoyable dystopian detour that harbors within it an idea and concepts that someone would be wise to explore further if given the chance too.

Final Say -

A sci-fi that borrows plenty from previous genre entries but also creates a raft of nifty if slightly underdeveloped ideas of its own, Equilibrium is an initially dismissed feature that has understandably managed to find its growing audience in the years since its release, despite it never once threatening to be regarded as top class fare.

3 burned paintings out of 5

For more reviews check out Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys)