Official Score = 2 1/2 Devils[/caption]I have never read this book before, but from what I understand of it, 1984, a novel that had been written by George Orwell had something to do with a future society that seemed to be directly controlled by a totalitarian regime, and that the way the populace seemed to accept it is the fact that the public of this future city are kept in somewhat of a drugged state…. A fascinating concept for a movie, no?
Well as it turns out, this type of Orwellian based nightmare has had various incarnations with in the movie world…
One such example, is the movie THX 1138 (1971). THX 1138 told the story of a society that had gone underground to survive, and the only way they are able to survive is to remain in a drugged stupor, and those that do not take their drugs are usually carted away… Horrible, eh?
Well I am pretty certain that at least to some extent that Equilibrium (2002) got at least some of their inspiration from this movie…
You see, this movie which was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer (Total Recall) and which starred, Christian Bale (American Psycho), Taye Diggs (Chicago), Angus McFayden (Saw 3), William Fichtner (Contact), Dominic Purcell (Prison Break), Emily Watson (Corpse Bride) and Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon), told the story of a world where all emotion has been removed by force…
What I mean by this, is that after the complete overthrow of what it looks like, to be the world, a society that is controlled by a person calling himself, ‘Father’ (Pertwee) is put in to place.
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Father... The, 'Adolf Hitler' of the Equilibrium World![/caption]In this society any form of emotional sensation is not only eliminated by drugs, but those few who wind up getting off of their meds somehow are doomed to be destroyed… And so, as a way to rectify this, and to help people stay on the right track, all forms of emotions are being taught out of the children of this new government., and all forms of enjoyment are being destroyed!
Well of course this is no easy task, and a member of the force that is responsible for the task of destroying all of this undesirable content by the name of, ‘Cleric John Preston’ (Bale) will find just how hard when during the last night of being cold and emotionless, the Cleric ends up killing someone that in a cold and emotionless way could be said to be his, ‘friend’ but is definitely is his former partner.
The next day Preston is in the bathroom, Preston accidentally spills the dose of his meds that he is supposed to take in the morning and ends up deciding to skip it, in turn though, this act will send him on an emotional odyssey that will not only change his life, but the lives of everyone around him!
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After spilling his meds, Cleric John Preston (Christian Bale) will change the world and give it back its soul![/caption]In the end, this movie is definitely one of those oddities , as it really was quite the well done film and all, with a great cast collected from a pool of major talent, and some fun action moments as well as some brilliant special effects… The only problem was the story!
What I mean by this, is that the story just didn't get to me in the same way that others of its type did (like Æon Flux). In the end, I thought just about the only thing pulling this movie together story wise happened to be Christian Bale’s character, as his character was really the only one of the batch that I was fascinated with, and hoped would come out of his emotional odyssey as a better man for it!
In the end folks, the movie was not bad, but not great… If you do watch this movie, then try it with an open mind…
http://youtu.be/ZVDiaYQXBVs
Colin Farell as Carl Hauser/Douglas Quad as he is about to make his life turn upside down![/caption]
Carl Hauser as he is beginning to realize that his wife as, 'Douglas Quaid' isn't exactly the woman he married![/caption]