Equilibrium ( * * * * )
What if George Orwell's 1984 has a dose of prosac and a heaping helping of cataclysmic kickassery? Equilibrium is the answer.
The Acting: "Who's that guy?" "Christian Bale." Five minutes later: "What's that actor's name again?" "Christian Bale." 50 minutes later: "What's his name?" For some reason I simply could not remember Christian Bale's name when I first saw this movie. So remember: Christian Bale. He's the new Batman. And ladies, you can catch him running around in his underwear in American Psycho, if you like blood-slicked dudes carrying chainsaws. Sean Bean makes the most surprising cameo I can remember in recent years--mainly because my friend Buck loved this movie and ranted about it but never once mentioned Sean Bean's name. Angus Macfadyen, who was Robert the Bruce in Braveheart but usually plays some Shakespearean douchebag, is excellent as the emotionally amped-up leader Dupont. Emily Watson plays the doomed everywoman, and I'll never complain about a cameo by William Fitchner, who is always scarily earnest and or/scarily vacant-eyed. Then there's Taye Diggs.
The Story: After the third world war, mankind tries to eliminate violence through medication called Prozium. But to quote Trevor Goddard in Men of War, "Bullets are cheaper than medicine" and they also create a class of state assassins called the Grammaton Clerics, who use statistically-created methods of standing in the middle of twenty people firing at them and not get hurt. It's believable, shut up. Christian Bale plays cleric John Preston, and he kicks ass. They use a type of kung-fu in their "clerical" work which incorporates guns, so that they do all this crazy-ass contorting and shit while shooting the shit out of people. Pretty sweet, except that usually they're shooting innocent "sense offenders" who want to do nothing more than experience foribidden human emotions. When John Preston himself becomes a sense offender, he must hide it from everyone, including his creepy kids and smarmy partner Taye Diggs, while simultaneously leading the hunt for the resistance leaders. But fuck all that. There's a scene near the end where John Preston kills more people at a dead run than has ever been filmed in live action to my knowledge, and only the first episode of Aeon Flux on MTV's Liquid Television even comes close. Best two uses of reload clips I've seen--ha ha! I luuv it!
The Direction: Writer-director Kurt Wimmer dazzles in his sophomore effort. I haven't seen his first feature, One Tough Bastard, and frankly I'm ashamed of myself, given the catchy title.
Overall: Did we really need a movie explaining that our emotions are the best thing we've got going for us as a species? No, but the same story could easily have been told as some weepy piece of French crap, so kudos instead for giving it a dose of the old ultraviolence. Beware, though, the first hour of this movie is a rough patch because none of the main characters show emotions.
Tredekka Rules:
The Acting: "Who's that guy?" "Christian Bale." Five minutes later: "What's that actor's name again?" "Christian Bale." 50 minutes later: "What's his name?" For some reason I simply could not remember Christian Bale's name when I first saw this movie. So remember: Christian Bale. He's the new Batman. And ladies, you can catch him running around in his underwear in American Psycho, if you like blood-slicked dudes carrying chainsaws. Sean Bean makes the most surprising cameo I can remember in recent years--mainly because my friend Buck loved this movie and ranted about it but never once mentioned Sean Bean's name. Angus Macfadyen, who was Robert the Bruce in Braveheart but usually plays some Shakespearean douchebag, is excellent as the emotionally amped-up leader Dupont. Emily Watson plays the doomed everywoman, and I'll never complain about a cameo by William Fitchner, who is always scarily earnest and or/scarily vacant-eyed. Then there's Taye Diggs.
The Story: After the third world war, mankind tries to eliminate violence through medication called Prozium. But to quote Trevor Goddard in Men of War, "Bullets are cheaper than medicine" and they also create a class of state assassins called the Grammaton Clerics, who use statistically-created methods of standing in the middle of twenty people firing at them and not get hurt. It's believable, shut up. Christian Bale plays cleric John Preston, and he kicks ass. They use a type of kung-fu in their "clerical" work which incorporates guns, so that they do all this crazy-ass contorting and shit while shooting the shit out of people. Pretty sweet, except that usually they're shooting innocent "sense offenders" who want to do nothing more than experience foribidden human emotions. When John Preston himself becomes a sense offender, he must hide it from everyone, including his creepy kids and smarmy partner Taye Diggs, while simultaneously leading the hunt for the resistance leaders. But fuck all that. There's a scene near the end where John Preston kills more people at a dead run than has ever been filmed in live action to my knowledge, and only the first episode of Aeon Flux on MTV's Liquid Television even comes close. Best two uses of reload clips I've seen--ha ha! I luuv it!
The Direction: Writer-director Kurt Wimmer dazzles in his sophomore effort. I haven't seen his first feature, One Tough Bastard, and frankly I'm ashamed of myself, given the catchy title.
Overall: Did we really need a movie explaining that our emotions are the best thing we've got going for us as a species? No, but the same story could easily have been told as some weepy piece of French crap, so kudos instead for giving it a dose of the old ultraviolence. Beware, though, the first hour of this movie is a rough patch because none of the main characters show emotions.
Tredekka Rules:
- Rule 3: Suck Actor Penalty--Taye Diggs, -4 stars. Not only is he a suck actor, but his suck acting actually hurts the premise of the story. He plays the smarmiest, smuggest "unemotional" Cleric you can imagine. So it's a nagging question: is he himself a sense offender, or can you possibly be that smarmy and smug without emotion? He has a great ending, however, that is reminiscent of The Cube.
- Rule 4: Sweet Actor Bonus--Christian what's-his-name, +1 star.
- Rule 6: Over The Top Acting Award--all five stars to Mr. Bale, who does the action well, including a lot of swordplay, and eventually becomes the emotional core of a difficult movie. His scene of emotional breakdown in the rebel hideout with the snowglobe features my favorite use of Beethoven in movies. +5 stars.
- Rule 14: Cool Gun Award--the clerics' semi-auto pistols are bad ass, and my favorite feature is that little spikes come out of their handles for some close-quarters pistol whippin'. Wimmer's shot of Cleric Preston's two barrels heating up in a pitch black room lets you know you're in for a treat. +1 star.
- Rule 22: The Great Entrance Award--in the first scene, Christian Bale and his partner Sean Bean kill a bunch of resistance members (including Dominic Purcell--Blade: Trinity's Dracula and TV's John Doe) and then they find a stolen copy of the Mona Lisa. A tech tests it and says it's authentic. Bale waits a beat before he orders, "Burn it" and two refugees from Fahrenheit 451 pop into the frame with flamethrowers. And you think, "How could they possibly redeem this cocksucker?" And then they do. +1 star.
- Rule 23: Master And Command Your Title--this category is generally for long-ass titles, but the title Equilibrium is more forgettable than the title of that Ray Liotta movie, Unforgettable. I mean, I personally like the word and all, but the general moviegoing public needs a title they can wrap their brains around, like Throw Momma From The Train. I want you to make money, Kurt Wimmer, so that I can see more of your shit. -1 star.
- Rule 39 (NEW RULE): Dystopian Futures Are Fun!--+1 star.
Tredekka Score: ( * * * * )
posted by Tredekka at 7:45 PM
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