If there is one movie that proves that the “”American Psycho”” Christian Bale, would make a great Batman, than look no further than exhibit number one, the little seen, little promoted, B-Movie action flick, “”Equilibrium.””
Sometime in the future, scientists have concluded that the root of all evil is, gasp, shock of shocks, human emotions. That’s right every war, killing, and violence can all be traced back to human beings capacity to feel; love, anger, hurt, fear, happiness, it doesn’t matter. It’s all bad and needs to be stamped out at all costs. Scientists have created a new mind altering drug called Prozium that puts a clamp on that pesky “”emotion”” thing. Of course there are always a small group of rebels who want to fight the powers that be and screw up the system. Well the government has an answer for these ruffians who dare to buck the system by reading literary works like Yeats and listen to Beethoven. They are called “”Cleric’s”” super agents, whose sole purpose is to arrest anyone caught “”feeling”” or is in possession of anything that can elicit an emotion.When Cleric John Preston (Bale) misses his doze of Prozium, he starts to feel remorse and pity for all the people that he’s killed, and realizes the government system needs to be overthrown. However he must disguise his emerging emotions from his ever curious and watchful new partner, Taye Diggs.Ok, enough with the boring T.P.S., “”Equilibrium”” features some of the best, most frenetic action sequences around. While the gun play often strays into the real of the truly ridiculous, it’s never boring to watch. At the very least, if you shut your mind off, you’ll marvel at how over the top it all is. If you thought the action in “”The Matrix: Reloaded”” walked a fine line between being cool and simply ridiculous, “”Equilibrium,”” jumps headfirst into the abyss. I mean there are moments where Bale is litterally surrounded by dozens of men, in close quarters, all with submachine guns, and they still can’t hit him! The funny thing is; the film actually comes up with an explanation of why all the bad guys shoot like they belong in the “”A-Team.”” According to the film’s internal logic, if you stand in a certain position in the center of a “”square,”” and attack immediately from that point, then the bad guys will almost always end up shooting each other and missing you. So essentially it boils down to speed, and physics. If you buy into this silly explanation, then the rest of the action sequences won’t bother you. And y’know what? I did buy this explanation (within the context of this film) and was able to shut off that screaming little voice for the rest of the flick.Bale and Digg’s performance manage to hit the right tone throughout most of the movie. The cinematography, set designs, and special effects are all top notch (for the limited budget). Where it falls short is in the primary story. I mean, it’s hard to think that the government will send out a hit squad and 30 armed cops if they catch you reading “”Yeats,”” or listening to Beethoven, or looking a painting from Leonardo. You want to convince me, arrest them for watching “”Survivor”” or reading “”Oui”” Magazine, then I could buy into “”artistic”” expression leading to “”chaos.”” Movie Grade BDVD EXTRASThe DVD is a pretty standard affair, with an excellent video transfer, a nice little documentary on the making of the movie, two commentary tracks – one with director Kurt Wimmer, and one with the director and producer Lucas Foster, why the need for two separate tracks is beyond me. The DVD also includes a couple of trailers from some cool upcoming direct to video releases. Extras Grade CIf you can get past Equilibrium’s, ham handed, sledge hammer approach to its main message about government censorship, you will be in for a spectacular treat of “”over the top”” gun play and fight scenes. This film isn’t for everyone. It’s certainly worth a rental for casual movie fans, while folks who love the action genre should run out and pick this one up.FINAL OVERALL GRADE B-EM ReviewBy Michelle Alexandria