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OK, I read a bunch of the reviews out of curiosity, while I was at the web site to buy the movie after my daughter sat me down and made me watch it. I am happy to see that so many reviewers liked the film. However, even in reading the positive reviews, I am often left wondering whether we both saw the same movie.
First, Equilibrium bears only a superficial resemblance to the Matrix, mostly, I suspect, because the Gun Kata sequences bear a superficial resemblance to the fight scenes in the Matrix. However, 1) the Matrix takes place in a "cyber-dimension" if you will. Neo can do extraordianry things because with the right programming anything is possible in a world where the laws of physics are just a series of zeros and ones. The fight scenes in Equilibrium, although extraordinary, supposedly take place in the real world without time dilation or other tricks, as someone else said, without the cheat codes on. More importantly 2) Matrix is a man against machine story more similar to Terminator (although stated vastly differently) than to the distopian universe of Equilibrium. In Matrix, the great danger comes from outside of humanity, from the machines. In Equilibrium, the danger is in humanity, in the struggle between the individual and the collective. Matrix is frightening, but only like, let's say, a vampire story is frightening. I can't bring myself to stay up nights worrying that my computer is going to turn on me, any more than I worry about werwolves. Distopia I understand, and, yes, I fear it very much. I doubt it will ever appear as portrayed in this film, but all the elements are there, and have appeared over and over again in the collectivist distopias of the real world, from the Soviet "worker's state" to the Third Reich. A matter of degree perhaps, but not much of a stretch. Thus, Equilibrium frightens me far, far more than the Matrix ever could, because it is possible. More trivially, 3) the fashion statements in the two films are not the same, although they use the same color scheme. In case nobody noticed, the clerics in Equilibrium dressed like priests. Which is why they are called clerics and are trained in a place called the monastery. The dictatorship in Equilibrium has obviously borrowed a lot of religious imagery from before the war. Note that I do not believe that the use of this imagery makes this an anti-religious film. There is nothing of christianity here except for the vestments, any more than the evil dictatorship is Khabalist because it calls itself the Tetragrammaton (which is YHWH, the unspoken name of God). I suspect "Father" made use of these symbols because they still had power, and their origin has been lost by the time of the movie. In any event, back to the point, the two movies do not remotely have the same dress code.
(If it makes any difference, I like the Matrix, but found its sequels, hmm, stupid is probably the right word. Between the first Matrix movie and Equilibrium, while the comparison is a bit like apples to oranges, I would take Equilibrium hands down.)
I also do not understand the constant comparisons to 1984. (OK, maybe I do. They are both distopias, and they both feature a Leader (Father, Big Brother) who seems to be electronically everywhere. So there are similarities) However, if there is one previous distopia to which Equilibrium can justly be compared, it is Bradbury's classic Fahrenheit 451. In both, the oppressor state targets specific cultural attributes and artifacts as much or more than the actual enemies of the state, believing that these objects in and of themselves are a threat. Thus books and puppy dogs are both in danger. More importantly, in Fahrenheit 451, and in Equilibrium, the dogs have their day. The state is unable to eliminate the threat, and, in the end, the oppressed outlast it and survive, though in slightly different ways. One must remember that 1984, brilliant as it was, had no remotely happy ending. It was, to paraphrase Orwell, a boot planted on the human face, FOREVER. That's what Orwell was warning us about, and why he is important. 1984 is a cautionary tale. Bradbury, and Equilibrium, choose to emphasize the resiliance of the human spirit even under grinding oppression. Despite the clerics, despite all the armed police, a resistance flourishes in the world of Equilibrium.
Of course Equilibrium is like other tales in its genre. Big deal. There ain't much new under the sun, as Solomon might say. I found it told in a startling, and very emotional, new way.
I generally am not interested in the names of actors. After seeing the movie, I still could not have told you it had Christian Bale and Sean Bean in it. When I was told it did, I could look back and say, yeah, that's Boromir and that's the guy from Reign of Fire, so it must be true. I still don't care. Whoever they were, they did a good job.
The fight scenes were impressive, but I've seen better. They were definitely novel. Gun and martial art deserve to be more closely related than they are always portrayed. But martial arts sequences are only props to a film. They can be as impressive as one likes, but without a plot I might as well go watch my son at the dojo. In this case, I liked the plot.
Or maybe that's the wrong word. I FELT the plot, which, I suppose, makes me a Sense Offender. I'm not even sure I can watch the thing again, because of the deep emotion it produces in me. I would be too apt to cry in frustration or scream in rage. That's what makes a great movie.
In conclusion, I can only say that the silliest scene was when Preston shot out a whole row of computer monitors and thus managed to "turn off" the presence of Father and begin the revolution. (As a computer tech, I am all too familiar with folks who think the computer is the monitor, and that box under the desk is merely the hard drive, but I didn't expect to see that in a movie. Of course, maybe in this world they did build the brains of the box right behind the screen. Who knows?) The best scene was immediately thereafter when you see Preston smiling and bloody. It is truly a s**t-eating grin. He FELT that one, alright. Oh, yeah. And so did I.
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Very, Very Good Movie Especially The Gun Kata Action And Sword Play When He Slices The Guys Face Off,
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EQUILIBRE PSYCHOLOGIQUE D'UNE ARME SE SOUVENANT D'ETRE HUMAIN !
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