Equilibrium (2002) Review

Firstly, in Netflix, this movie is called Cubic, for some reason, which makes it harder to find anywhere but in Netflix.

I watched the movie last night, and it didn't really stick inside my head, so I had to scroll through it a bit this morning to be able to write anything about it. That says a lot, doesn't it?

Well,what is it about?

It's set in a city where they have developed a drug which removes all human feelings in people. If they show the slightest bit emotion they will be processed, which means death. The stats is that "the Father" is highest on the rank, and then comes his trusted person, and after that, comes the clerics, these are men who are killing-animals, trained in all sorts of marshal arts and combat. They're also the smartest and yes, they're all handsome as hell. (which is rather okay, if you like looking at handsome men on the screen...)

From the beginning, there are two men in the center John and Partridge, who are working together, and I got the feeling that they also were some sort of friends, as much as you can have friends if you don't feel a thing. Not a thing yeah. So when John, our trusted main character, realizes that Partridge is feeling something he himself shoots him. It's not as dramatic as it sounds, because John does it without a second thought on right or wrong, so it becomes an anti- emotional process.

We get to find out, in bits, about the processing of Johns wife and mother two their two children, she was taken in their home, accused of feeling, and of course, death came fast through a burning chamber.

(later on, actually in the last five minutes of the movie, we find out that the children actually stopped taking their drug already just after their mothers death, but they never brake of from being robots at home or in school. For four years. Now that's two determined little ones!! )

This review seem to have a life on its own, because it gets very fragmented, but the movie is also like that.

There are a lot of hunting for people who harbor contraband, things like the painting Mona-Lisa for example. Or books or records or other paintings or perfume or anything which isn't just functional and gray, white or black. In the movie they keep burning the contraband and it's very hard to believe that they haven't burned it all down already as they are busy busy bees. They pick up one of the women for processing and possibly to get some more information. Then one day, Johns morning injection breaks (they come in little bottles that you put in to your injection box with a needle that you put in your throat) After a day of having no treatments, he starts to feel, see colors and feel surfaces with his hands. He also see this female prisoner in a whole new light. She is beautiful and full of emotions, played gorgously by Emely Watson. John now has a real hard time killing the people they find who are feeling, and have all this contraband. It's hard for him to not break apart and he can't hide his feelings, although he is trying to mask them the best that he can. This is a little bit disappointing, he should know how it all works and he should know how to control himself, and he most certainly should know what will happen to him if he shows any feeling. The feeling things make John appear weak. But, he still go through the motion and he get together with a group of feeling people, who tell him to kill the Father. So he goes ahead and try his best.

There are some really beautifully choreographed fighting routines, that reminds me a whole lot of Matrix, the first movie. He completes his mission.

And then they all get free and we don't get to see anymore than that. It's just over and the Father had died years ago anyway, so he just had to kill the second in command and a LOT of other clerics and soldiers. But because he was so well trained he never got hurt but just braved any situation.

My hero.

And then... who knows!

Marianne