 |
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
|
|
|
 email this review to a friend
Greater Than As everyone spurted on and on about how great V was, I couldn't help thinking it was little more than a poor man's Equilibrium which could best be described as Fahrenheit 451 meets The Matrix. Equilibrium takes place in a not too distant future where, following the perceived downward spiral of mankind and his capacity for violence, society has been reformed by Father (Sean Pertwee) into a community of Prozac-shooting automatons. All black, white, and gray, this last bastion of civilization after a apocalyptic third World War, Libria, is safeguarded by the Tetragrammaton and its gun-fu masters, the Grammaton Clerics, the best of which is John Preston (Christian Bale). Preston begins as an unflappable defender of the faith who has seen his own wife executed for "sense offenses" and shortly after the film's open executes his own partner and friend, Errol Partridge (Sean Bean) for same – ceasing his "dose" and reading poetry. Preston is promptly partnered with golden Cleric Brandt (Taye Diggs), and continues business as usual, destroying things that inspire emotion – music, art, film – and executing or imprisoning those that are irresponsible enough to feel. That is, until Preston accidentally misses a "dose" of his own. Bale's emergence from Preston's emotional cocoon into a fully feeling human being is yet another feather in Christian's acting cap; he starts slowly and builds to an emotional landslide of grief, regret, and lust for vengeance. Also of note is the always capable Bean, and good – if small – performances by Diggs, Emily Watson, and William Fichtner. Equilibrium has the pleasant effect of being both topical and thought-provoking while still being entertaining and streamlined; it never stops to tell you what you should think, and seems to posit that there's not a definitive right or wrong only choices of which poison that you'd prefer. It also has some genuinely original action sequences and is a very tight piece of cinema. email this review to a friend
Comment on this Review:
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
RSS | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | About MatchFlick® | Press | Contact Us | FAQs
Partnership and Advertising Opportunities | Movie Database | Merchandise ©2004-2009 MatchFlick®. All rights reserved. ©MOVIE IMAGES ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED AND THE PROPERTY OF THEIR RESPECTIVE OWNERS |