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Equilibrium
By Dave DePino
Writer/director Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium is the kind of film everyone loves to hate and totally dismiss as a copycat disaster. Yes, it does copy several tried and true sci-fi classics, most noticeably 1984 and Fahrenheit 451 or more recently, Minority Report and does tend towards looking kind of Matrix-like. That aside, and treating this without the hindsight pros and cons of past films, Equilibrium has enough going for it to cancel out most of the negatives and gain a marginal recommendation.
First off, you know you must leave any desire or expectation of reality outside the door of the theatre when seeing a film of this genre. Also, this film makes no excuses for playing with sci-fi fantasy or flimflam-filming tricks. Its heroes and villains are straight out of comic books and meant to entertain; the profundity, however, comes from the fact that the real life progression of civilization seems to also be coming out of a sci fi-horror-comic book pushing dark humor. Second, the story might have been done before, and done very well, but that doesn't lessen the possibility of its being well done again, but differently. Here, Wimmer hits on some solid and interesting cathartic philosophies to ponder in a future gone nuts, keeping in mind, of course, that emotion is nothing but an invitation to chaos and comes at a price.
The film takes place in the 21st Century just after WWIII. It is determined that the fault with the world is that people feel too much. Sure, there are the touchy-feely pleasures, love, et al, but on the other hand, there are hate, greed, intolerance,and vengeance. So, since there is no way to weed out the bad from the good, Father (think Big Brother) decides to treat the problem by forcing everyone to inject into their necks a daily dose of Prozium. This drug not only dulls the senses to emotional feeling, it eliminates any possibility or desire for them. Going off their meds for a day, they would probably go looking for a rose to smell, but in this new world there are no flowers. A group called Nethers are another story. There, the rebels, the feelers, the "Sense Offenders" have flowers, art, artifacts, books, music and all the good stuff. They even love and experience sadness and pleasure.
Father's army is made up of Clerics who seek out and kill offenders. Super Cleric, John Preston (Christian Bale) is just such a soldier who stood by, with no regrets, and watched as his own wife was arrested and incinerated for her innocent crimes. Now, a single parent, he lives with his young son and daughter. Preston is a killing machine who would make Ahnold or Sly look like violence shirkers. Outfitted with a long, black coat,a blank expression, and guns that spring out from cuffs, coat, and seemingly everywhere, he shoots a gazillion rounds of ammunition while tumbling, flipping, flopping, running, rolling, jumping, well, you got the picture. And, just like all heroes, right back to Tom Mix, he never gets hit by any of those bullets sent in his direction. One day Preston catches his partner (Sean Bean) reading a book - a major no-no - and shoots him in the head as if he never knew the guy.
Preston comes across a member of the resistance, an offender, Mary O' Brien (Emily Watson) who is headed for the incinerator. For some reason, he feels a stir. Whether cerebral, emotional, or libidinous, this stir is enough for him to purposefully miss a dose of Prozium and then go off it altogether. You know where this is leading. Yes, he quickly becomes a good guy as he looks into an old, dying man's eyes, a puppy's eyes, and Mary's eyes. The rest is obvious.
Though Wimmer's script pretty much follows a formula to get us from A to B and then ultimately end up at the expected C, this film takes a somewhat respectable route with twists and turns that are interesting. The dialogue is surprisingly smart, clipped, and plausible for the genre; the dazzling action is delightfully implausible, but right on target. His eye for atmosphere in huge, gray, cold sets and locations brings the visual eeriness into a noirishly artistic realm.
Also, Bale is quite an asset for this film to have. Here is an actor we loved as a little boy stuck in China years back in Empire of the Sun facing a changing world, and though the actor worked pretty steadily after that, he seemed to explode again on the screen, as an adult, in American Psycho giving an astonishing performance to knock us off our feet. As Preston, he brings a depth, excitement, and reality to a virtual caricature in a way that someone like a Van Damme or even Cruise couldn't. Sean Bean does his usual fine job in the scant ten or so minutes he's on screen. Taye Diggs, as the new, fierce, Cleric-kid on the block, does competent work, but no sparks. Watson makes the best of her willowy, wide-eyed damsel in distress. Some of the support performances are a bit spotty. The musical score nicely underlines the action. The editing of the action scenes will make you dizzy, making MTV look like slo-mo. The overall look of the film is dangerous and quite swanky at a wholesale price.
For video suggestions, many come to mind including 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, but I would like to suggest Christian Bale's, 2000, American Psycho. This mentally exhausting nightmare, directed by Mary Harron, tells the story of a young man's attempts to fit in with the players on Wall Street and how he loses control and surrenders to his dark side, or his view of his dark side. This contemporary, cult favorite is based on Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel of a decade ago. Bale's performance will make you sweat. Also staring in the film are Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, and Reese Witherspoon.
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