Equilibrium
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Movie Reviews of Equilibrium
Movie Review: Logans Run Reloaded
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read the first couple of pages of the reviews and am surprised that no-one has yet made the comparison to Logans Run, the 70s sci-fi classic, where Michael Yorke is a Sandman, an emotionless cop tasked with killing "runners", people who try and escape the domed city the story is set in to avoid being forcibly terminated on their 30th birthdays. Logan tasked with infiltrating the resistance begins to empathise with them and becomes a runner himself. Sounds familiar?
Equilibrium obviously tries to cash in on the Matrix but they are very different films, both in terms of budget and premise. This film looks very stylish and revolves far more around the characterisation, costumes and cinematography, as obviously the budget was limited. And the director does a fantastic job in creating the dystopic future and capturing the set piece battles. Even the startling way the film is shot, lots of black and white costumes with a lack of colour enhances the look and feel of the film. It really is a nice piece of work and you can watch and enjoy this even if you think the Matrix is the greatest film ever (and of course, it is pretty amazing.)
The plot as many people have pointed out is a little shaky and the premise of the film doesn't really hold up to over scrutiny, but it is sci-fi, the "fi" bit being "fiction" which means we should allow the director to present his world and accept it for what it is. Personally, I like the "gun-kata", its one of those pieces of "film-science" that makes you think that "hmmm, maybe its possible". I remember at a job interview for the Defence Research Agency many years ago being told about some one who had attempted to break down aerial combat into a set of algorithms so that an aircrafts computer could calculate the probability of a successful engagement and inform the pilot. If this was true, the "gun-kata" might not seem so terribly far-fetched.
Bale is of course immense, you could put him in the tellytubbies and he would probably binge eat for 6 months and paint himself purple to get into role. He is ably supported by a cast of British and Irish actors including "Beaner" who is the working mans Sean Connery.
This film could have been crap, but it isn't. It is really really good, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Movie Review: Beautiful Violence
Summary: 5 Stars
If you are a fan of "Dark City," you will enjoy this visual treat - a dance macabre, a vicious, graceful delight, and critique of antidepressants. Totally original, yet an homage to Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Lang's "Metropolis." Christian Bale is subtle in portraying both control and loss of control, each emotion a careful part of the narrative, he grows in depth as each painful experience of emotion is peeled back from the drug-induced onion-skin. There is nothing over the top with this layering, this cleric/assassin grows in character and depth. The song "What Have They Done to Me" by Visage Anvil could be the soundtrack here, or just about anything by Sisters of Mercy: Original Album Series:A Slight Case Of Overbombing/Some Girls Wander By Mistake/First And Last And Always/Floodland/Vision Thing. Sean Bean is always excellent, as is Emily Watson. As an aside, never has a puppy looked so lovable. This movie haunts the past and suggests a possible future. Wake up. Take off your gloves. Feel life. As with true Sci-Fi, moral questions are framed within new technologies, our choices as human beings are further stretched by each innovation, perhaps to breaking point. Is this the future, is it the past? In an almost recognizable, unfamiliar environment, the elements that consist of a soul, of a society, are confronted, making "Equilibrium" both futuristic and ancient in its concerns. You also might enjoy the "Riddick" and "Underworld/Evolution" films. Try the noir Dark City (Director's Cut).
You might enjoy this mythic adventure, from 1960s era Doctor Who (beware the 1980s & 90s versions), to Doctor Who: The Complete First Series, and onward to the Doctor Who: The Complete Specials (The Next Doctor / Planet of the Dead / The Waters of Mars / The End of Time Parts 1 and 2).
Movie Review: Our unbelievably true future
Summary: 5 Stars
A strange remake of many films and many books of science fiction. Brave New World, 1984, Brazil, Total Recall, the Running Man, Terminator, and so many others. The basic crime here is to feel. How can we get rid of feelings in order to guarantee social peace and complete control of everyone and everything? The question is the answer.
A drug will do the job everyday and destroying anything that could resemble any feeling or their carriers will do the job every night, and we are covered day and night. But what happens in any society? Some do not like drugs and compulsory acts. So they rebel and they stop taking their drugs. And that is called the resistance.
In Brave New World they are tolerated in some human reservation, but in this world they are underground and have to fight against the official society overground. And there will always be one secret agent of the feeling police who will rebel one day and will get in touch with the resistance and will be the instrument of the end of this world. That's part of life and no one can prevent it.
So the film is a little bit naïve on the means with which one man, even a cleric of super power and strength, can succeed in killing dozens of trained soldiers in about two minutes without even getting a rip in his coat. It yells impossible but we are a good audience and we suspend our disbelief long enough to know that this rebellion is absolutely possible and that it exists in any totalitarian system.
The only passé element is that the power of "free" information is not captured in this film which is already old and cannot know the power of the new medium called the Internet and the way even the best kept secrets in the world can be made public tomorrow morning by Wikileaks or any other eaves dropping site.
But apart from that it is an entertaining film and I like the dog, the mongrel, the BO of this film that was made even before that famous BO was elected President of the United States who brought a dog named Bo into the White House along with two young girls.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne, University Paris 8 Saint Denis, University Paris 12 Créteil, CEGID
Movie Review: A great film, deserving of more credit then it recieved
Summary: 5 Stars
The Matrix was a great film, but in many respects it has come to represent to modern viewers all that is modern and innovative in the realm of fight cinematography. What was in actuality the logical culmination of years of HK cinema coupled with the power of the computer age of film-making has become an figurehead of innovation to the narrow-minded movie-going public. While the Matrix will always be one of my favorite movies, in this respect it has prevented films which also take the same logical step from gaining any widespread support.Equilibrium is one such film that has suffered under The Matrix's shadow. This film, because of its use of martial arts inspired, CG-aided gunplay has been cast aside by most critics as a Matrix clone. This label does this film a great disservice.
As if wrenched straight from the pages of 1984, A Brave New World, and Fahrenheit 451, the story of Equilibrium is pure, unapologetic science fiction. While the plot is obviously somewhat derivitve in premise, the cast grants the film a great deal of legitimacy with their performances. Particularly of note are the performances of Christian Bale (American Psycho, Reign of Fire), and Angus McFadyen (Braveheart, Titus). Bale's captivating transition from the haunting detachment of his drug induced complacency to the passionate recognition of the true value of feeling is brilliant, and perfectly brings to the fore the message of the film.
The fight sequences of the film are nothing short of amazing. In start contrast to the drawn out encounters of The Matrix, the fights scenes in Equilibrium seem as if they last only a few seconds. However, Wimmer managed to pack some of the most explosive fighting seen in a film into those few seconds. The on-screen explanation of the martial arts form employed by the clerics, called Gun-Kata, was a nice added touch. It allows viewers to suspend their disbelief much more easily when witnessing a single man dispatch a room full of foes.
The Bottom Line: A great movie. Its one of those films that you feel special for seeing and enjoying just because you know everyone else missed out on it. Solid acting on all fronts and great fight scenes come together to make the best movie nobody saw.
Movie Review: For the 100,000,000th time, THIS IS NOT THE MATRIX!!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
ever since the matrix came out, anyone who wears long black coats and has gunfights is obviously trying to copy off that movie. no one seems to mention that the look of the Matrix is strikingly similar to the likes of the Crow and the first Blade movie, or that the idea that this world is not the real world was nicked from Jean Beaudrillard. No offence, the Matrix movies were good, but they are hardly the most original concept in the world.Neither is Equilibrium, but that is part of what's cool about it. right througout the movie, you can see that director Kurt Wimmer loves movies like Fahrenheit 451, 1984 and Logan's Run, and has taken elements from them to create a universe which, if you think about it, is not all that impossible. so in essence, it has done the same as thing as the Matrix, but it could not be more different.
to begin with, the action is so different. whereas the Wachowskis action scenes were kung fu and gunfights slowed down, Equilibrium puts the two together with the fantastically high concept gun-kata, and uses it in tight little symmetrical bursts of violence that really grab the attention. the climax where John Preston (Christian Bale) goes to kill the main villain is an assault on the senses, and the prelude to the final fight adds in some unexpected but much appreciated gore to the mix.
The performances are great, with Bale kung fu kicking Keanu Reeves to death in the acting stakes. He is abley supported by Taye Diggs, whose smirking evil henchman is the perfect contrast to Bale's more emotional performance. Emily Watson is underused as the love interest and there is some great support from Sean Bean and Angus MacFadyen, and Wimmer keeps the pace going while adding some nice touches and unknowing references to other classic films (the Beethoven 9th from Clockwork Orange)
unfortunately because of the monster success of the Matrix, this was found to be playing second fiddle in theaters (it wasn't really released in mine), but it is a more than equal to the first Matrix, and is actually better in parts than the sequels. watch this before you take your Prozium shot and be moved by a rockin piece of action cinema.