| |
|
I recently saw Equilibrium, in an effort to find something dumb and stupid to go and see, and I was pleasantly surprised simply because, well, it was surprisingly good, and certainly not that dumb or stupid. Reflect mentioned this in the Matrix thread, so I thought a thread was justified - even though it begins with a characteristically huge post of mine.
The plot is derivative in the extreme from classic dystopian fiction - a world where emotion is banned, controlled by a drug called "Prozium II" (ugh) which supresses emotion, thus keeping the world in an anodyne yet safe state. All art is, of course, banned, and is destroyed by containment units. The references are obvious - Huxley (T-shaped windows, fascistic overtones), Orwell ("Father", a Big-Brother-like figure, fascistic overtones) and Bradbury (book-burning, emotion and art as bad, fascistic overtones), but it does never set out to state it's doing anything different.
Into all this come the ultimate line of enforcement against "Sense Offenders" (for which you can read Thought Criminals throughout) - the Clerics. Who maintain the decency of the world with nothing but big black fascistic outfits and a pair of foot-long handguns. As you do.
One Cleric, John Preston - the best of them all, in fact - suddenly finds his belief challenged when he accidentally comes off Prozium briefly and realises the wonder in the world he's missing out on, so he sets out (after a bit of internal debate) to take the system on.
There's a fair amount to recommend Equilibrium - it had a relatively small budget ($20m - low for a film of this type) and yet pulls off some genuinely stylish moments; the production design is great, especially the marvellous overhead shot of the identical desks of the Clerics, and the concrete, angular lines of Preston's apartment. Similarly, the costume design is simple but effective.
Christian Bale, though, as Preston, is what really makes the picture tick - he lifts every scene from would could have been mediocrity in the hands of a lesser actor and actually gives them some point. There's a great scene where, investigating a hidden room decorated in the manner of the mid-20thc, he accidentally turns a gramophone on - but it's only many seconds later that the record begins playing, and when Beethoven's 9th hits him, you feel that he is genuinely overcome and not just trying to demonstrate some kind of feeling. Also mentioned in dispatches - Taye Diggs is Not Shit. His part isn't much cop, but I felt he worked relatively well, especially in the scene where he throws Preston to the ground, captive, in front of the public. (You might recognise him as the bandleader from Chicago).
What really made it work for me, in fact, were the interesting and un-mainstream choices Kurt Wimmer made in his direction and script. He kills off the female lead, for starters - I thought she was going to be saved, last-minute style, because I'm cynical. The fact she dies is great, because it gives the plot necessary emotional oomph and gives Preston a real reason to Kick Butt, not just an excuse. Similarly, Preston's discovery of the new-way-of-life doesn't happen because of the incredible power of a good woman, but simply beacuse he drops an ampoule one day. The set-up of the scenario worked well, too - a brief opening narration from Father, but then his public broadcasts punctuate the film in the background, so you don't waste time learning about the nuances of this dystopia, it just filters in through the background.
Also, as a note, it does have some great action sequences in. The first gunfight in the film takes place in pitch darkness, and is only illuminated by muzzle-flash; whilst Wimmer uses the same few shots over and over again, stylistically, this is very impressive - it really does look good without having to be expensive or OTT. That's generally the flavour of the rest of them - the Cleric's gun-katas are really just designed to look impressive, even if they're a bit unrealistic, and it certainly leads to some stylish action sequences that clearly didn't cost the earth.
In the end, Equilibrium is not going to make a lot of difference to the cinematic pantheon, but it's far better than a film starring both Sean Bean (as himself, as ever) and Sean Pertwee (as Father, chrissake - Sean Pertwee as Big Brother? Whatever next?) has any right to be. It's stylish, slick, Bale's fantastic, and it has enough interesting plot elements to lift it above other things. And, no matter what anyone says, it's not a Matrix-derivative, even if it has similar styling; it's a different kind of philosophy that's approached, and in a far more intelligent way. Wimmer's a good writer, but I think this shows he might become a good director, too. |
|
|
