Equilibrium

Continuing down the Netflix list we come to the sci-fi action film, Equilibrium.

Here is the summary to Equilibrium:

In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death

The summary itself is pretty brief and I appreciate that. I don't want too much to be given away in a summary. But with this summary I assumed this movie would be Christian Bale performing with a blank face the entire movie. Whats the appeal of a movie where no one shows any emotions?

Well its a little bit more complicated then that and its a good thing. 

Here's the background: After a Third World War, reigning governments decide that the cause of all the world's problems and wars come from man's emotions. Purge emotion and you purge conflict. In this dystopian future, they have created a drug that purges that emotion. 

Christian Bale is the top special agent, or Cleric tasked with rooting out the resistance or "sense offenders" (hehe) He is the best and the most pure as it were. He follows the rules to the T, even going as far as to kill his own partner for being a sense offender. (Yup, it sucks to be Sean Bean, even in a dystopian future)

But Bale accidentally misses a dose of the drug meant to suppress emotions. He immediately begins experiencing feelings for the first time.

FEELINGS!

The movie mainly focuses on Bale questioning his morality and the heartless sense lacking world he has always known.

Other cast members include Sean Bean who plays a Cleric who begins feeling himself... and then is killed by Bale. (Big surprise there) Taye Diggs who plays the replacement for Bean's character. As the partner of Bale he needs to monitor Bale and make sure he doesn't fall subject to emotions. There are only a few other characters but I didn't really catch their names so they're not incredibly important to do a review at least.

I mentioned the doubts I had about this movie, about how I didn't want to see a movie filled with emotionless acting. But I'm baffled that I didn't see this coming. Bale starts feeling again and the feelings are totally new to him. To see that development, that discovery, is actually very impressive.

The movie does take some liberties with what is considered emotion because Taye Diggs smiles a couple times and doesn't get arrested.

I suppose I should comment on Digg's performance. It's not bad, but its not good. And that's not really a bad thing. (Do you follow?) Diggs is suppose to be emotionless. That's a hard request. Does he give a performance without emotion? Well that's a subjective question. One I don't really have the answer to. Needless to say, Bale does a better job at showing no emotion and yet showing the reactions to things he finds horrifying. It just speaks to Bale's talent as an actor to show feelings without really showing feelings. Again, its a hard concept to totally grasp, and that's kind of a criticism of the movie. It put itself in a world not possible to portray.

Some other comments about the movie include the costumes and overall feel of the movie. The costumes are ripped right out of The Matrix which don't get me wrong, it works, its just a little too

obvious.

Also, the soldiers in this movie just wear motorcycle helmets. I didn't realize it at first but then I couldn't stop thinking about it. I don't usually criticize too heavily on costumes and I won't here but it does connect with the overall atmosphere of the movie. Emotionless areas are very neutral black and white colors while areas where emotion is shown is more colorful. But there wasn't enough of a contract between the two worlds. Yes the emotion world did have more color, it still looked kind of bland.

The action in the movie is really good. Yes its very close to the Matrix in its style but its entertaining.

The only other complaint I have about the movie is that the perception of the current system of government is always shown so bleak and evil. While in the beginning they explain why emotion was purged, they don't really justify it. The government is just always portrayed as evil. But not only that, the lengths they go to show how heartless these bastards are is just insane.

Take this scene for example. Bale and Diggs go to raid a resistance base. After they find all the members of the resistance and burn all their contraband, they find a pen of dogs. Because they're void of emotions, they cannot comprehend why someone would form an emotional attachment to a dog... so they kill the dogs.

Now at this point, Bale has started feeling and he's faced with the choice on whether or not to save a puppy from being shot. I am dead serious, the way they affirm this government is evil is that they kill puppies. Dead serious. I mean it is the ultimate test of pure evil isn't it?

So the dystopian nature of this government is just overplayed to the max.

But it doesn't make it a bad movie. I won't full endorse this movie because to be honest, despite stellar acting from Bale, the movie is kind of dull. Unless you enjoy Sci-fi dystopian future settings, I can't promise you you'll like this movie. But it is on Netflix instant stream. If you have time to kill and have no other movie to watch, this movie will get you entertained.

I won't say its the same as the Matrix because there are significant differences in the story... but there are a lot of similarities. Just be warned, people may call this the poor man's Matrix.

So that's my thoughts on Equilibrium. What do you think? Have you seen it? Let me know what you think.

I'll leave you with what I'm sure you were expecting. A comparison video between Equilibrium and the Matrix. Enjoy