lynseytate

I'm not a fan of action movies, but I loved the fight sequences in "Equilibrium" - they're beautifully choreographed and the characters are so smartly costumed its a visual treat. I'm indifferent to romance in movies, probably because its done so often and so very badly, but the superbly portrayed sexual and romantic tension between Bale's and Watson's characters is surprisingly believable and totally hot. I generally cannot stand the lone-hero-fighting-dystopia theme because it's so overdone, lacks credibility and usually ends depressingly badly, but "Equilibrium" is so well-acted and beautifully filmed that I forgot to hate it.

Did I mention the acting is wonderful? I know there wasn't enough blandness in some of the characters who are supposed to be drugging all of the emotion out of themselves, but that just seems to remind that you can't drug all the emotion out of a human; it's a point of optimism in a theme that usually has a depressing effect. I think it's also another symbol of incipient corruption in this society that the characters that seem to be least drugged into social acceptability are the ones who are in charge or are enforcing the rules on everyone else. This dystopia clearly contains the seeds of it's own destruction. Contrasted with other film dystopias, this one looks more doomed than insurmountable, inevitable and crushing to the human spirit.

I know the plot-line and actions of minor characters sometimes stretch belief, but this film actually makes your suspension of disbelief worth it. I know the concepts and philosophy here are far from new, but although I highly value original thought and philosophy, I enjoyed the pure emotional impact of this movie so much I was left thinking "who cares"?

"Equilibrium" is so well-made that it leaves me reflecting that a constant diet of badly done formula entertainment will have an effect on the human mind as inhibiting as most other drugs - so is it so far-fetched that people in this dystopia get up every morning and voluntarily drug the emotion clean out of themselves with a chemical dose?

I am not a particular fan of the martial arts genre or a Bruce Lee idolizer, but I absolutely loved this movie. The fact that it is billed as a comedy and is actually funny, and this one is very funny, underscored for me its subtle ridicule of Hollywood, their formula films and the entire assembly-line style of film making. Hollywood seems to treat Comedy as the Miscellaneous category - if you can't categorize it as a drama, a documentary, suspense, horror, action or history, then it must be a comedy. This one is genuinely funny, instead of yet another billed "comedy" that's really just one more money-grubber's yawn fest.

This is also a wonderful but gentle poke at the entire 70's style of film and television, re-creating the tasteless idiocy of that decade's mainstream entertainment offerings, but in a manner that remains nostalgic, affectionate and respectful - like having an old hound dog that stinks just a bit and slobbers all over everyone but we still love him anyway.

If you enjoy the Christopher Guest parody movies (I don't; I respect the effort but it's just not easy to get a laugh out of me - yet this movie got plenty) I think you will find this well worth seeing. Even the nudity is so blatantly gratuitous it qualifies as parody.

If you're fed up with the standard crappy focus-group-oriented film-by-formula usually offered, you'll like this movie. If you want a good laugh, you'll like this movie. If you have a pulse and a sense of humor, you'll like this movie.