Last week's new release Salt led to my post about The Recruit because both CIA-themed films were written -- at least in part -- by Mister Kurt Wimmer. As long as I'm pimping out his work, I figure I might as well bring up the two films that he both wrote and directed: 2002's Equilibrium, which earned him a decent fan base, and it's bigger-budget follow up, 2006's Ultraviolet. While the latter is not a sequel to the former, both futuristic films share a similar feel. Part of their common thread is the orginal fighting style known as "Gun Kata" which features prominently in both. While Hong Kong action films have been incorporating firearms into hand-to-hand combat (informally known as "gun-fu") for decades, Wimmer turned it into an actual martial art within the world of Equilibrium. It is based on the premise that the trajectories of bullets in a firefight are statistically predictable based on the positions of the combatants. Therefore, a master of the "Gun Kata" forms is able to place himself where he has the least probability of being hit, while at the same time firing his weapon in the directions that give him the greatest possibilities of hitting his opponents... without having to actually aim. As an actual combat system it's completely ridiculous, but in an action movie it creates the opportunity for beautiful scenes of graceful carnage.
The setting for Equilibrium is an Orwellian post-World War III future where emotions have been banned by an oppressive government that values peace at all costs. Through the daily use of a mandatory emotion-killing drug, the population of the world's monochromatic cities are prevented from feeling anything more than a mild fear of breaking the rules. Kinda like life in much of the Midwest. The belief is that feelings of any kind could lead to stronger feelings, like anger, which could lead to violence, which could once again plunge the world into war. In an effort to minimize the risk of gateway emotions cropping up, the omnipresent Big Brother-style government has banned anything that might elicit an emotional response. This means no art, no poetry, no music, no pets... and virtually no colors other than shades of gray. As with any oppressive regime, there are dissenters, individualists, guerrillas who don't want to follow the rules. The kind of people who might want to put a little salt on their flavorless government issued food product. These people exist mostly in filthy ghettos outside the well-maintained cities. They stockpile paintings, books, vinyl records... maybe even some color swatches from that long forgotten purveyor of psychedelic visual debauchery, Mister Sherwin Williams. These people are known as "sense offenders" and they are the reason that our protagonist has a job.
Enter Christian Bale, who plays our appropriately-named defender of blah, "John". John's job is to root out and destroy sense offenders and their contraband with joylessly ruthless efficiency. As you might expect, circumstances arise that cause John to question his occupation, as well as the basis of the very society he serves. Bale plays the gradually awakening machine to emotional being role quite well, as you might expect if you've seen American Psycho. And if you haven't, well go ahead and queue that up too. Taye Diggs turns in a sinister performance as an up-and-coming enforcer who would probably love his job, if such a thing were allowed. Emily Watson appears as the only female with an actual role in the story. Angus Macfadyen (The Bruce in Braveheart), Sean Pertwee, William Fichtner, and Sean Bean round out the cast. Fichtner is one of my favorite "That Guy" actors who you may know as "That Guy who worked at the mob bank in the opening scene of The Dark Knight... you know, the one with the shotgun." And if you only know Sean Bean from Lord of the Rings or as 006, then you're missing out.
Equilibrium had a fairly low budget for a sci-fi action thriller, which shows in the cheesy Leather Trenchcoat/Black Motorcycle Helmet uniforms of the anonymous government soldiers. But on the upside, it's also refreshingly CGI-free, other than the exterior shots of the Metropolis-inspired city. It's not your average sci-fi fare. There's almost an art-movie influence buried somewhere within the action. Sadly, it was a box-office flop and received generally bad reviews from critics, although Roger Ebert gave it 3 out of 4 stars and said "Equilibrium would be a mindless action picture, except that it has a mind. It doesn't do a lot of deep thinking, but unlike many futuristic combos of sf and f/x, it does make a statement." Since it hit video, the
film has done significantly better and gets predominantly good reviews in customer ratings. My advice... if you liked Ultraviolet, check out Equilibrium. If you haven't seen either, start with Equilibrium. It's a better film. While I do enjoy both, I can recognize which has more merit. Think of Ultraviolet as a slicker, more mainstream product of Wimmer's imagination that cashed in it's soul for a bigger budget. Milla Jovovich's hotness replaced Bale's efficiency, bubble gum colors replaced gray, style replaced substance, and CGI replaced... well... damn near everything. But at least it kept William Fichtner.107 minutes
Rated R for violence
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Ultraviolet (2006)
88 minutes
Rated PG-13 for violence, partial nudity, and language
NOTE: Kurt Wimmer is currently working on the Total Recall remake (do we really need a remake of a movie from 1990??) which will NOT take place on Mars, does NOT feature Ahnold (happy b-day, big guy) and will be targeted for a PG-13 rating. Wow. I guess the man likes a challenge.
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