Movie Review: Equilibrium (DVD)

Equilibrium (DVD)

In 2002 a little-known movie starring Christian Bale was released that told the story of a man rediscovering human nature in a dystopian society where emotion and emotion-triggering artifacts are regulated and outlawed by the government. Having been released in the wake of The Matrix, considered by many to be a Holy Grail of science fiction, and confined to a somewhat lackluster budget it’s a miracle Equilibrium even saw the light of the silver screen. Not surprisingly the movie garnished mostly negative reviews, and was labelled as a crude rehashing of science fiction classics by most critics.

Ever since I caught the last twenty or so minutes of Equilibrium on television one night I have loved it, and ever since I studied it through a literary lens I have recognized its deep value as not only a movie but a work of art.

While on the surface Equilibrium is a standard science fiction flick (and a cheap one at that) drawing from countless classic sources, it takes one or two watches to fully understand and appreciate the journey John Preston (Bale) takes. At the beginning we are presented with a dystopian society immersed in a civil war between those who feel and those who do not (emotion is suppressed through a drug called Prozium); a war between those who accept their emotional nature as human beings and those who deny it outright, fearful that it will again cause war on a global scale. By a freak accident Preston, the top Grammaton Cleric, the elite law enforcement agency, misses his Prozium dose one morning and from then on we have the sheer pleasure of watching him slowly rediscover his human nature.

What really works for watching this transformation is Bale’s himself, who is able to effortlessly take us on a journey from a man for whom the question “How does that make you feel?” does not compute to one scraping his forehead on the pavement to ease the pain of personal tragedy. Bale takes his time, using the entire length of the movie to shape and mold character, to convince us that emotion is what Preston truly wants; it is a rare performance that, while not a polished Oscar-winner, shows Bale’s awareness and understanding of his character and what his character is going through.

Obviously, no movie is without its faults, and Equilibrium certainly has them, like the extremely low-budget graphics that make even the videogame fight scenes in Matrix Reloaded look like live action. Or even though I’ve never been the biggest fan of blood-splattering gun fights, I would take blood over clouds of dust bursting from a person any day of the week. And perhaps the biggest plot pitfall is the idea that a drug so powerful as to completely inoculate a person against even the smallest emotion wears off in twelve hours if one dose is missed.

However, when I watch this movie, and I hope you have a similar experience, these faults don’t detract from my experience. Rather, I’m left with the sincere thought that I would take a low-budget, intelligent, emotional movie over a big-budget, smoke and lights production without a second thought. There are very few movies I feel comfortable enough with to swear by, and Equilibrium is one of them. It is more than just another sci-fi flick; it is the journey of one man to rediscover and reaffirm humanity in spite of societal customs, and no movie with that message should be dismissed so readily.

 Overall Rating: 9.0 out of 10