Equilibrium (DVD)
Written and Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean

When I heard Equilibrium being compared to both The Matrix and 1984, my ears perked up right away. Even moreso when I heard that Christian Bale was starring, but despite my anticipation, it never arrived in theatres nearby. I thought for sure all the hype and The Matrix name-dropping would be enough to bring it to most mainstream theatres, but it’s theatrical run ended up being pretty limited. With the current runaway success of the DVD market, it ended up being a borderline direct-to-video release. After seeing it, I guess I can understand why it got the short end of the stick in some ways. It does have that low budget b-movie feel at times, but that’s still no reason to overlook it. As we all know, low budget affairs frequently offer the best movie experiences of all, and this is one movie that’s worth tracking down and to watch in the privacy of your home.

Equilibrium is a classic tale of a dystopian future. After the inevitable World War III, it is decided that the only way to avoid more senseless violence and death is to outlaw the thing that makes humans most dangerous: emotions. A special drug is administered to the populace to keep them from feeling, and all forms of human expression such as art and literature are outlawed and destroyed. A special police force known as “clerics” are trained to seek out and punish all perpetrators of what they call “sense crime”. However, when one such cleric (Christian Bale) misses his dose, he begins to question the system and finds himself drawn to join the underground resistance movement.

The movie is a product of the mind of writer/director Kurt Wimmer, a man who has limited experience as a director, but who has written screenplays for such movies as Sphere, The Recruit, and The Thomas Crown Affair. He does not deny his influences here. Storywise you’ve got the mass sedation drugs from Brave New World, the oppressive fascist control from 1984, and the destruction of literature like in Fahrenheit 451. In execution the movie definitely draws influences from such innovative sci-fi films as Blade Runner, The Matrix, and Minority Report.

The action sequences are one of the movie’s most appealing aspects, and yet also one of its stumbling blocks. This is where the comparisons to The Matrix come into play, but there’s no bullet time here and no serious martial arts choreography. Kurt Wimmer has tried to invent a new fighting style which he calls “Gun Katas” – the use of double pistols with a variety of body stances and movements to maximize the damage to your opponent based on probability of his own movements. The guns also have retractable spikes on them that can be used to pistol whip people in hand-to-hand combat. As cool as the idea is, Equilibrium didn’t have the budget to compete on the same level as a movie like The Matrix, so unfortunately they have to resort to a lot of quick cutting and shaky cam shots – it’s pretty obvious where they are copping out in some areas. They also didn’t have the opportunity to train actors like Christian Bale and Taye Diggs all that extensively, and their inexperience shows at times. The final showdown near the end of the film which was very anti-climactic and felt like a bit of a cop out as well, but I have to say I respect it a little more after hearing Wimmer’s explanation in the audio commentary. In some instances I was left wondering what could have been if there had been more money behind the production, but thankfully there’s more to the movie than just gun fights.

The lead role in this movie is absolutely perfect for Christian Bale. If you can recall his performance in American Psycho, you can see how it would also work here as a man with robotic calmness who is also supressing powerful emotions that lurk just beneath the surface. Sean Bean (aka Boromir from Lord of the Rings) does a great job as a cleric turned sense offender early on in the film, and both Taye Diggs and Emily Watson hold up their ends of the deal, preventing the movie from seeming too campy or contrived. Sean Pertwee also deserves credit for his portrayal of the creepy Big Brother-esque figure, Father. And did I mention that Nitro of American Gladiator fame makes a brief appearance as a cleric as well?

Probably the best reason to see this movie is for the cinematography, lighting, costume and set design. They did a great job visually, particularly considering the budgetary restrictions. There are a lot of cold, blue hues, and a believable futuristic cityscape with very “cubic” buildings showing signs of urban decay as seen in 1984 or Blade Runner. Much of the movie was actually shot in Germany, so it’s interesting to note that a lot of the buildings really exist in Berlin and the surrounding area. The political symbol in the movie also closely resembles the Nazi emblem, incidentally, and you can notice it repeated in many places throughout the movie, including the muzzle flashes of guns.

The DVD also has a brief 4 minute featurette called “Finding Equilibrium” that is pretty bogus, but the audio commentary tracks make up for it. There’s one by Kurt Wimmer himself, and one by Kurt Wimmer with producer Lucas Foster… you don’t see that too often. The one with Wimmer by himself is the better of the two, as he focuses more on the conceptual ideas than the budget and set locations. Oh, plus it also has the awesome trailer for Tarantino’s upcoming movie Kill Bill on it! BONUS.

Equilibrium is a very ambitious movie, and while it can’t quite match many of the films it is in competition with, it’s still well worth watching for fans of the dark sci-fi realm. Bale’s performance alone is worth the price of admission, and it’s destined to become a cult classic. — Sean