Equilibrium

Rating:
Summary: It was a cute puppy
Review: I saw this movie for the first time today and I loved it. This is the first time I've sat through an entire movie without so much as blinking. Definatly better than The Matrix.
For the record, I liked the battle over the puppy.

Rating:
Summary: Bale Shines
Review: Up until I saw this film, I knew very little about Christian Bale. My wife told me that he was in a version of "Little Women" sometime ago. I've also seen him with smaller parts in other films.

In "Equilibrium," Bale takes center stage as John Preston, a top cleric in Libria who hunts down "sense offenders." These "sense offenders" range from people who read poetry and novels, study art, or enjoy the occasional musical piece. In other words, anyone who shows any sort of emotion is dealt with swiftly and deadly. Also, if you skip your dosage of Prozium, an emotion dulling drug, you risk facing death.

All of this emotion control is done in hopes to render any ideas of revolution moot. After the third World War, balance is brought about by removing art, music, etc. so that no one gets any crazy ideas. Of course, there are some folks who want to feel. These people, including one fellow cleric, manage to get under the skin of Bale. Bale slowly begins to lose his emotionless nature and begins to cherish things such as rainbows and puppies. He begins to care for human life and worries for the safety of his children. Eventually, he is recruited by the revolutionaries to lead their revolt on "Father," a Big Brother-type who controls what is considered good and what is considered bad.

Bale goes from emotionless puppet to a vengeful, angry man. Though some may find his love of a puppy and the lengths he goes to in order to save its life a tad silly, you have to see the situation through his character's eyes. The best example I can give is when you see a deaf person "hear" for the first time using a hearing aid. They usually begin to cry tears of joy and pain all at the same time. Something very similar occurs to Bale when he hears music for the first time.

Taye Diggs provides a smarty-pants foe to Bale's Preston. Angus McFadyen plays "Father" with sinister flair. Both Emily Watson and Sean Bean have small but significant roles and they put their whole hearts into their respective characters. The rest of the cast is very good, though most of them are simply "sweepers" and revolutionaries who fight violently and often.

The story moves at a steady pace and really picks up when Bale begins to show a little too much emotion around Diggs. The action is brilliant, especially the gun-kata. Others have compared this film to "The Matrix," but I see nothing in "Equilibrium" that wasn't copied by "The Matrix" and vice versa. Let's be honest folks, the whole "Matrix" story and things not being as they seem has been thrown around for centuries. It's all been done before in countless books, plays and films. What it all boils down to is good versus evil and in the end, good prevails. Stop with the comparisons already!

Anyway, watch this film if you really enjoy action-packed sci-fi that is a little bit more intelligent than most of the shoot-em-up sci-fi we are treated to these days. The acting is way better than a lot of other flicks out there these days. The action is fun to watch, and you will actually pull for the good guys in this one.

Highly recommended.


Rating:
Summary: All movies are "copied" from . . .
Review: I liked this movie. There were some minor plot holes and it did slow down once or twice, but 99% of movies are no different.

What I enjoyed most was that even though it used elements from several well-known movies or books, the makers were brave enough to do some things drastically different, even if it didn't always work.

I think it is laughable to compare this movie to the Matrix. I think that years from now Equilibrium will still be discussed and debated with all of its flaws, while the Matrix will probably look and feel dated. If you think about it, this is a very old and often copied story:

The young man (the One) who performs miracles and who will save us all. Hmmm.


Now I do love the Matrix for what it is. The timing of its release was perfect and it had the feel of something new from Hollywood. I don't see, however, why a person can't like both movies. Is this a competition or something? People actually seem angry that they are reminded of the Martix when they watch Equilibrium! After my second time seeing the Matrix, I was reminded of Dark City, but I didn't get upset by it.

Another note: Another reviewer wrote that if there had been no Matrix, there would have been no Equilbrium - I submit if there had been no Dracula, Dark City, Blade, The Last Dragon or any other movie that featured skilled fighters, an important mythology or tragedy, gothic trappings, long coats/cloaks and one person who is the best of us or the "One", there would have been no Matrix.

To end, I think that The Matrix had great effects and a tighter story and I enjoyed the martial arts, the acting of Christian Bale, and surprisingly, the deeper sense of emotion and drama in Equilibrium.






Rating:
Summary: Balancing the Unbalanced
Review: Expertly throwing the harshness of a society in which the good of every individual is sacrificed for the good of the society as a whole into sharp relief, Kurt Wimmer introduces us to his masterpiece Equilibrium. This is a poignant and powerful tale of the consequences of sacrificing that which makes us human. By using elements of George Orwell and Ray Bradbury, Wimmer draws his audience into a gritty hellish reality where the unexpected is a regular occurance.

Several things that I loved about this movie are outlined below:

The use of color, or rather the lack thereof. Color evokes emotion, and so all the costumes are done in shades of grey and black. Add to this the backdrop of a harsh limestone architecture and you have a canvas adorned in grey and black alone and yet it conveys the sense of a beautiful picture dispite its bleakness.

The music. The music is beautifully crafted to expertly counterpoint the emotional context of the movie. Frequently you will find your emotions being manipulated by the beautiful imagery created by both original scores and classic pieces like Beethoven's 4th symphony.

The cinematography. This is one of the most cleverly shot movies ever. The angles tend to communicate an emotional subtext which moves from harsh, ninety degree angles to flowing curves and even an absence of conventional corners.

The writing. The script for this movie must be experienced. I won't even attempt to demonstrate how well this screenplay is written.

The action. The action sequences in this movie are awesome! The visceral realism of much of the action makes The Matrix look like The Karate Kid. Guns are used in an interesting way as they are considered to be simply an extension of the arm (like many melee weapons are) and the aesthetic ballet of the action sequences are reminescent of poetry.



Rating:
Summary: Ask your doctor about PROZIUM(TM)!!!
Review: According to _Equilibrium_, The Government of The Future will someday require us all to take a wonder drug called Prozium to numb our emotions and make us all into complacent automatons. Frankly, I could've used some of the stuff to help me through this cinematic crapfest. These filmmakers mostly stole their style from _The Matrix_ and their substance (such as it is) from _1984_, _Fahrenheit 451_ and _THX-1138_. The resulting pastiche is a ham-fisted cautionary tale that tries to take the moral high ground and falls right off the edge...One redeeming quality is Christian Bale's performance. He plays a convincing badass and I imagine he will do just fine as Batman in this summer's reboot of the DC Comics franchise.

Rating:
Summary: Matrix? What Matrix? Great Libertarian Action Flick!!!
Review: Silly, predictable, seriously flawed, with moments that are outright laughable, Equilibrium nonetheless transcends all of these and through its compelling performances and fun pseudo-comic book settings delivers a powerful emotional punch that should resonate strongly for anyone who loves stark, stylistic Orwellian drama.

In a future dominated by Father (with a not so subtle nod to "Big Brother"), emotions have been eliminated and feeling is a crime, punished by immediate incineration - along with things like art, music, literature, friendship, love and everything else that makes life worth living. Wisely, there is an underground rebellion contingency who continue to "live." Among them, Emily Watson's saintly, emotional Mary O'Brien. These folk are, naturally, hunted down by the Grammaton Clerics, that physically fit bastion of unfeeling purity out to uphold and enforce the law.

Christian Bale as Cleric John Preston gives a performance that is simply terrific offering a fascinating character study. One witnesses in anticipation as, throughout the slow process Preston's emotion free automaton - the pride of the Tetragrammaton - evolves into freedomfighter and ultimately liberator. Watch as, for the first time, Preston listens to music (the opening measures of Beethoven's 9th Symphony) and through his face captures and reveals the range of awe and wonderment as though awakening from a lifelong coma. Bale is more than up to the task as we watch his Cleric struggle with his newfound duplicity and makes route for him, but still believe the man may very well fail his mission.

Director, Kurt Wimmer, in what appears to be his first big screen directorial job, has created an entire new, faux martial arts: "Gun-Kata." Gun-Kata is a highly stylized combination of two handed gun fighting and classic tai-chi/martial arts movement based on "a scientific analysis of bullet trajectory and range" combined with mathematics, etc. At first, it is almost painfully hilarious to watch, but give in and it achieves a type of anime, hyper realistic that can only be described as "wicked cool!"

Bale's Preston is THE master of Gun-Kata and as he inevitably goes after "Father" his penultimate fight with former partner Taye Diggs' will leave you cheering.

Like a great conductor, Wimmer brings together all of the disparate elements of his symphony with its wordless, choral based soundtrack, jumps every hurdle and flaw, delivering a terrific movie full of action, meaning and emotion.

Rating:
Summary: I'm not feeling! He is the one who's feeling!
Review: This film was a combination between The Matrix, Fight Club, Fahrenheit 451, and Blade Runner. There are heavy symbolic messages being thrown at you concerning religion, dictatorships, and the power of the human spirit. Equilibrium was a sci-fi film to the utmost degree. I say this because most of the time you can only cover these topics with a futuristic approach. This allows the director to give us, the viewer, a warning that unless we contain ourselves as humans, this may be the future that we will have to endure. I thought that the actors very well played it out, the direction was steady, and the action was powerful.

The only complaint that I have about this film is the story. I felt at times it was rushed and a bit difficult to follow. The basis of this film was to not show emotion, which I felt the actors did very well, but there were times when I thought they were showing emotion and guards were going to come and take them away, but never did. When Bale did break down, why were the other pedestrians of the city not surprised (again, was it because they couldn't show emotion). This is where I started grappling with the overall feel of the film. There should have been a must stricter balance between emotion and non-emotion. I felt that anyone could get away with anything, and with as many spies as they "claimed" being around the city, why were more people not picking up on this? If Prozium was issued to everyone, why were there some in the city not taking the drug. Take Watson's character. She could have been utilized in a much deeper way, helping to bring not only Bale's character to the surface, but also others around them. I just felt that with this story, there were issues not being addressed and topics not brought out until a very suspenseful moment. I despised, dare I say hated, the scenes between Bale and his son. Sometimes he was calling Bale "Dad" while other time he was using the name "John", then there was the fact that there was a painting in "father's" office, making us question if they had to take the drugs as well ... hum ... there was just not enough consistency.

Out of what I disliked and onto what made this film work. First, our actors. I have never seen actors give so much to a small film as I did with this movie. Bale was superb, ranking close to Keanu in his "Neo" role, as the gun-toting officer of the government. Even Sean Bean brought a human feel to this story about emotion. I especially loved Emily Watson. She picks the oddest roles to add to her resume, but simply put ... they work. The acting was only the tip of the iceberg, I loved the action sequences. They were fantastic. I am a sucker for the "bullet-time" style of fighting that was issued in The Matrix and I am always impressed when films use it better or add their own spin to it. Equilibrium was one of those films. The kata style gun fighting was slowed down when needed, or kept the same pace to show the power of the human wielding those powers. It was flashy, but not too flashy. Bale pulled these sequences off with the greatest of ease, only proving that he could be the next Hollywood action hero. The battle between Preston and Brandt was exactly what I was hoping for. While there were a couple of clichés that riddled this film, there were scenes of power and originality that gave me more delight than I can wave a stick at. The battle between two of the strongest lasted just as long as I wanted. Bale was the best, and this film never strayed from that idea.

The final topic I would like to discuss goes over the symbolic references in this film. Please, look closely and see if you can see the Holocaust references staring you in the face. The most blatant is shown whenever somebody is accused of showing emotion they are burnt in the incinerator. This is a direct reference to what Hitler did to the Jewish prisoners in the concentration camps. Then there was the supreme ruler that just happened to be everywhere people were. He was unavoidable. It reminded me of George Orwell's 1984 in the sense that "Big Brother" was watching those that would not obey. Toss in a pinch of the Salem Witch Trials and you have a little film I like to call Equilibrium. I think I liked this film due to the numerous amounts of references to our culture, yet that was what Bale and his government were trying to destroy. While they thought that our culture was being repressed, it was actually seeping through the seems. They would try to crush it in one section, but it would only cause more distress in another. The never won battle against the culture that helps make us the people that we are today. It was interesting to see a world that was scared of repeating the horrible deeds of their past actually create a carbon copy of the horrific deeds of the Holocaust. Their attempts at a utopia failed because the rulers and the people were afraid of whom they were.

Overall, I felt that this film was not without flaws, but it did make a good impression on my mind. It dealt with an issue that is not explored enough in cinema because we embrace the theme in every movie created. What would a film be like without creating any sort of emotion from the audience? A film full of emotional void being enjoyed by a couple that embraces it. Strange, weird, world that we live in!

Grade: *** out of *****

Rating:
Summary: The future is grey
Review: Everything and everyone is covered in black, white, or flat shade between. Police or guards (guarding what? from what?) are everywhere, in beetle-black armor with opaque beetle helmets. This inhuman environment is filled with people. The question is, are they fully human?

This world's answer to war, crime, and violence is to flatten all emotion, in every one, with "Prozium". Our hero, Preston, seeks out the people who skip their doses and dare to feel. It's a capital crime, and he summarily executes the penalty more often than not. One day, his dose breaks on the floor. He is delayed in replacing it, then stops taking it altogether.

That, of course, is where the movie really starts. It's also where tinges of color start to appear on screen, as Preston's mind opens to the figurative colors of emotion. This is a very good dystopic story, oddly similar to Brave New World even in its differences, but more like THX 1138. The action isn't as wild as comparisons to The Matrix would suggest, but this movie is a lot more thoughtful. And keep your eye on Preston's children. They are un-nerving throughout the movie, perhaps most of all in the last scene.

I like this one a lot. It's got fair action, but it's a lot more than that. For one, it's an uncommonly effective use of the cinematographer's palette. Mostly, though, it starts from a premise that stands up to a little thought - a rarity these days.

//wiredweird


Rating:
Summary: A New Kind of Fighting Art
Review: I would have to say that Equilibrium is one of the best movies I've seen yet. I've got a DVD collection of over 500 movies and this is definitely on my top 10 Best. It's just abosolutely amazing how they came up with the idea of a "kind of" martial arts one would say with the exception that pistols are the number one technique. It is by far better then Matrix. It also doesn't have a cheap plot either. It was actually a right good plot that is somewhat understanding for a real-life occurence in the future. Though highly doubtful it actually made sense. Christian Bale plays an excellent role as the #1 Grammaton Cleric with his unique acting and incredible action sequences. I would recommend that if anyone enjoys excellent action movies, to BUY this DVD, not rent it.

Rating:
Summary: More than meets the eye
Review: It's easy to look at "Equilibrium" and write it off as a corny Si-Fi action flick. I wouldn't blame you. It's what I did at first. But when I convinced myself to watch it I was surprised with the depth of the plot. The movie takes place in the distant future after humanity has suffered though its third world war. A man called the "Leader" decides that human emotion is the root of humanities problems and thus makes a drug that enables people to feel. Enter Christian Bale, Christian plays a "Cleric" who's duty is to hunt down those who resist the leader's will. He later faces a dilema when he accidently breakes his dose and begins to experince emotions himself. Simply, If you've read George Orwell's "1984" and liked it and watched the "Matrix" and liked that, then "Equilibrium" should be right up your ally. The action is great and the movie looks wonderful even with the film's limited budget. well worth a watch.