Film review: Equilibrium.

Not a very new film, released in 2002, but I never saw it because I had a few preconceptions about it. Decided to check it out anyway, and here's the review.


When I first got wind of this film, two thoughts ran through my mind; "Who the fuck is Christian Bale", and "Oh, great, another Matrix rip-off". Suffice to say, I didn't give it the light of day, and never watched in the three years since it's been released. Until today. I was feeling ill, I was bored, I had it lying around.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

On it's Matrix-ness; sure, there are hints of Reeves' Neo in Bale's Preston, what with the black overcoat, the stoic look and nifty martial arts, there's no denying that. Hell, even the central premise, however interesting and entertaining, bears resemblance to The Matrix. But what the hell? If you're gonna rip off films (and books), be sure to rip off good ones. And this one did, with hints of Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, Orwell's 1984, Lucas' THX-1138, Gilliam's Brazil and even Scott's Blade Runner. A film that copies quality like that can't be all bad, can it? And it isn't.


Synopsis: This film is set in the future, in a post-World War III society where emotions have been outlawed because they are deemed the primary source of hate and suffering. Equilibrium tells the story of cleric John Preston (Bale), a government agent who begins to have serious doubts about the policy he is so brutally enforcing, a policy that abolishes every single cultural artefact -from books to paintings to music- it can find.

The cast is pretty good. I'd never given Bale much thought as an A-lister, and I hated American Psycho (probably because I just didn't get it), but after this and last summer's Batman Begins, I'm beginning to see him as a headliner. In this one he did a commendable job, as the officer who awakens from his lifelong coma only to be slowly engulfed by a tidalwave of emotion. The supporting cast, including Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean, Sean Pertwee and William Fichtner all do a proper job. Did they deserve an Oscar? No. Was it good enough for an actioner like this? Yes, very much so.


The action is very good, and quite original, too. Especially considering the low budget involved here. Granted, it's all very much thanks to the influence of the Matrix, but honestly, which film isn't, these days? At least it is really quite stylish and exciting in it's own right, rather than just being a lazy copy of bullettime. The action scenes are well spread out over the film and they have good, fast pace, despite being very much style over substance.

What impressed me most in this film was the gun fu action stuff, or 'Gun Kata', as it's called, which almost out-Matrixes The Matrix in style and volume. Gun-Kata is a highly stylized combination of two handed gun fighting and classic martial arts movements based on, and I quote "a scientific analysis of bullet trajectory and range" combined with heaps of mathematics. Preston is so skilled that he is an almost invincible opponent. His solitary misstep as a fighter occurs once he gives himself over to emotion, a fact which is exemplified perfectly in one scene, in which his polygraph suddenly flatlines just seconds before he takes out a dozen or so armed men. It's refreshing to see someone trying something new on the action front, instead of blindly copying others.


The cinematography is decent, though somewhat boring. It's very basic, frontal- or overhead shots, but I assume this is in order to relate it to the stoic and emotionless society it's trying to portray. The setdesign is not bad either; it has the coolness Gattaca had, the lighting is just right, and the colourscheme fits the film, too, trying to keep everything in black and white or grey. The only times colour is added is when certain moments need to be accentuated (such as the gothic red dress and cape the condemned 'sense-offenders' wear before they are incinerated).

There are, however, flaws. What is a stylish statue doing the lobby of the headquarters of the people who ban artwork? The film is loaded with plotholes like this, but still, it has something going for it, something intangible, invisible. Is it Bale? Is the high-concept premise? Is it the Gun-Kata? I don't know, but I do know this: If you're someone who cherishes originality for its own sake, you might not like Equilibrium as much, but if you don't mind a bit of proper stealing left and right, you'll definitely get a nice little kick out of this one.

A 74 out of 100.