Rent Equilibrium on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Kurt Wimmer
Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Dominic Purcell, William Fichtner
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.
Verdict
It's a dystopian society that's found a way to prevent war and conflict at the expense of creative expression. The rules of this world break down quite easily just in what we see. Preston misses one dose and everything flies off the rails. I don't know how this society would have sustained. It provides a problem but not a definitive answer. With a world that already feels flimsy, what happens after leadership is toppled? I do love that this introduces "gun kata" for how our hero doesn't get shot even when completely outnumbered.
Skip it.
Review
This falls into the sub-genre with 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and even V for Vendetta. The difference with this movie is that this world was created not as a power grab but to create a safer society.
This opens with a voice over reading a text crawl. It's redundant. World War 3 led the powers that be to realize that feelings lead to wars. Their solution is to eliminate all feelings. They create a totalitarian government, the Tetragrammaton Council. Tetragrammaton translates to YAHWEH or God.
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| Christian Bale plays Cleric Preston |
The council appoints clerics that track sense offenders, anyone that shows feelings. Preston (Christian Bale) finds offenders, which usually leads to a cache of items like art and books. He's good at his job, and this is a world where feelings are so suppressed that he doesn't feel any remorse over turning his wife in which led to her death. He turns his partner in for violating the law. What makes these clerics so effective is "gun-kata." Shooting and avoiding bullets comes down to predictable variables. Through careful study they're been taught evasive tactics to avoid being shot in a gun fight. It's part magic, but it works, explaining why Preston never gets shot.
This is a world that's plain, boring as color may induce feelings. It seems like it would be difficult to keep people on these interval dosages that suppress all feelings. It's easy to forget or drop the glass vial. That's how Preston misses a dose which leads to the plot of the movie. When Preston misses one does, the entire system starts to falter. It seems like a poor system. Then again, maybe the dose makes people docile and most people crave it.
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| Christian Bale plays Cleric Preston |
Preston now deals with feelings for the first time. I don't know how anyone wouldn't suspect him. A blind person could see he's suspicious. He imprisons a sense offender, instead of the customary execution. Interestingly enough, she wears a pink dress instead of a drab uniform while in custody. That seems like a recipe for disaster. Eventually Preston's strange behavior catches up to him.
Equilibrium is an interesting title. A balance of emotions and order would have led to a less suppressed society. This is one borne of willful ignorance. What's the point of living if you can't feel? They're all robots, emotionally stunted. By going to an extreme, it created unrest and rebellion. It's not really new ideas, but it is an update. While an extreme method achieves peace, the big question is at what cost? I'd like this more if some of these plot points weren't so flimsy. How can you rely on individuals to dose themselves? I appreciate this movie for giving us gun-kata, a silly explanation for why the character is bulletproof, but at least it tries to provide some logic. It doesn't provide a clear answer for how society should be modeled, other than creating something more balanced.
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