"Equilibrium – Emotionless Fascism and Unintentional Laughter Reign"
Originality is an under-worked concept in Hollywood. Anyone keeping even a moderately close watch of the Cineplex the last few years and has seen the glut of sequels, remakes, spin-offs and television and video game adaptations could tell you the same. This information isn’t a shock by any stretch of the imagination.
Granted, even so, it is almost getting to be kind of novel to pinpoint all of the various “influences” (have to use that term lightly – some of these films aren’t so much influenced by other sources as they are cribbed directly from them) a new film borrows from. Take the new sci-fi B-move potboiler from Miramax’s exploitation wing Dimension, Equilibrium. It’s a hodgepodge of cinematic and literary sources ranging from Fahrenheit 451, 1984, Metropolis, The Matrix, December 7th, Blade Runner, Triumph of the Will, Minority Report, Total Recall, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Brave New World, Mad Max, A Clockwork Orange, The Killer, Gladiator and Thirteen Ghosts (the derivative 2001 remake not the wonderfully witty original). Got all that?
In Libria, a new country and super power born out of the ashes of a devastating world war, all feelings have been banned from society so conflicts and war can never happen again. Art and culture are destroyed on site, sending cherished pieces of ancient history such as the Mona Lisa to a fiery end. Citizens themselves are required to become junkies, force-fed doses of the feeling suppressant Prozium (think super-Prozac injected into the neck). If you miss a dose – you die. Read a book – you die. Cry for a lost love – you die.
Enforcing this emotional existence are Terminator-like (look – another influence!) police officers called “Clerics.” Trained from birth to be society's new brains and brawn, they spend years learning the physical art of “Gun-Kata” (think Matrix-style martial arts with guns) making them imposing and unstoppable warriors.
Libria’s best is John Preston (Christian Bale). Possessing skills far superior to other clerics, the mere mention of his name would bring awe to any individual – if awe were allowed. Preston is so cool he’ll not even bat an eyelash if his wife (Maria Pia Calzone) is arrested for “sense offense,” and he’ll even kill his own partner (Sean Bean) if he’s started to feel and experience emotion.
It all changes for the young soldier when he misses his dose of Prozium one morning. Soon, he’s shaking uncomfortably at the site of his very first rainstorm sans drug-induced catatonia. Scared for the first time (because fear would be a feeling and thusly banned) but unable to shake the growing excitement towards actually being able to experience an emotion, Preston decides to stop taking his drugs and see where these new sensations can take him. Along the way, he experiences attraction to a sense offender (Emily Watson), anger towards his superior (Angus MacFadyen) and distrust towards his new partner (Taye Diggs).
Soon, Preston reaches the conclusion that life without feelings is worthless (duh) and that his country’s leader, “Father” (Sean Pertwee), must be stopped before Libria falls into fascist ruin. Hooking up with the leader of the resistance (William Fichtner), the cleric must decide just how far he is willing to go to preserve the feelings he has so long fought on the side to destroy.
It is hard to say whether Equilibrium is a sensational total waste of time (and talent) or gloriously (and derivatively) over-the-top kitsch fest. The first time Preston unleashes his “Gun-Kata” moves its terrifically exciting in silly, B-movie fashion, and the final assault on the presidential palace is a definite crowd pleaser. But until the excessive violence takes over, the only thing director Kurt Wimmer’s (one of the writers of The Thomas Crown Affair remake and Sphere making his debut behind the camera) film is good at inducing is catatonic-like boredom mixed with fits of uncontrolled giggling at the portentously serious tone he sets it all at.
Granted, Equilibrium has its moments, and Bale is wonderful (and very sexy) as the growingly aware Preston. The less said about the rest of the cast is probably better, but it should be noted that this is the second film in a row that the amazingly talented Watson – after Red Dragon – has been so completely wasted in every respect. One has to start to wonder if she is hard up for cash.
A part of me wants to recommend Equilibrium. It IS fun, to be sure, some of the time – especially towards the end. As guilty pleasures go, one could do a heck of a lot worse. But it is all so unintentionally laughable much of the time, hugely derivative of other works and takes itself so seriously, that the enjoyment factor is severely muted. When all was said and done, I’d much rather stayed home and read.
0 comment(s):
Post a Comment