Equilibrium

Title: Equilibrium
Director: Kurt Wimmer
Cast: Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Sean Bean
Year: 2002
MPAA: Rated R for violence.
Date of Review: August 7, 2005

Many critics and film enthusiasts are saying that modern movies are the beginning of the demise of film. That the ability to make something truly original and captivating is lost, murdered in the dark alleyways of the 1980s by a mysterious and powerful attacker named MTV. At least, that's what some snobs will have you believe. In fact, film is still in great form, if not better than ever, you just have to dig a little deeper. There are still many wonderful movies out there, and lately, it seems, many of them star an equally wonderful young actor, Christian Bale.

Kurt Wimmer's 2002 sci-fi action movie "Equilibrium" is not one of the better films starring Bale, but that is not to say it is bad at all. It simply lacks the finesse and sense of completion that films such as "American Psycho" and "The Machinist" offer, which is probably due to the fact that it was a little too ambitious for its own budget. The special effects are no better than many high-end video games, and it has the production values of something you would see coming straight to video. However, it has a handful of very fast, very satisfying action scenes, as well as a few fine performances and some great inventiveness that manage to lift it above the mediocrity of its overall feel.

Christian Bale stars as John Preston, the most elite member of a type of futuristic law enforcement called the "Grammaton Clerics", who enforce laws put into act after another devastating world war, stating that human emotion is now illegal. The film begins when Preston is at his prime, and follows him as he rediscovers his own emotions, and begins his fight against the corrupt powers leading society. At his disposal is a new martial arts technique called the "gun katas", designed for optimum performance by Clerics during gun fights, and to watch the choreography of some of these fights is quite spectacular, albeit very brief.

Among the supporting stars are Taye Diggs, Emma Watson, and the always charming Sean Bean in a role that felt like it should have been much more. The acting in the film is solid, considering the genre and the audience it is trying to attract, with Christian Bale and Sean Bean stealing the show - especially when they are onscreen together.

Kurt Wimmer, who has dabbled in and out of writing very average screenplays, shows that he is really no better at directing. Much like the supporting cast, he displays that he knows how to get the job done quickly and painlessly, but it's fairly plain and by-the-numbers.

A surprisingly interesting part of the film was the rather simple but effective musical score. Light instrumentals layered with electronic sounds and patterns combined nicely and added to the cold, calculating feel of the world the movie created. Subtle sounds and ambience are used throughout the film to increase this effect.

"Equilibrium" shows us that there is hope for something new and original in the action world after "The Matrix", and also that there is a future for action movies with brains as well as braun. However, it could have been something truly incredible in the hands of more capable people.

6.5/10

The Machinist

Title: The Machinist
Director: Brad Anderson
Cast: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside
Year: 2004
MPAA: Rated R for violence and disturbing images, sexuality and language
Date of Review: August 1, 2005

He looks vaguely familiar. A certain look in his eyes tells you you've seen him before in some movie you can't remember the title of. His voice brings back memories of a psychotic New York lawyer in the 1980s, but still, you can't place a name. He is so frail, both emotionally and physically, it seems as if any moment now he will just fade away into nothingness. Then you remember, and with a sudden jolt of energy you jump out of your seat, point at the skeletal figure on the screen and yell "Hey! That's Batman!". And you're right, sort of. Yes, it is Christian Bale, but in this movie he couldn't be much different from the crime-fighting Dark Knight of Gotham. The character's name is Trevor Reznik, and the movie is "The Machinist".

The film, directed by Brad Anderson who is fairly well known in the horror crowds as the director of 2001's masterful psychological horror film "Session 9", tells the story of Trevor Reznik, a young man working for "National Machine", a steel mill of sorts with a series of colourful employess. Trevor holds many deep secrets, some of which he is not even himself aware of. One is that he has not slept in a year, and his extreme fatigue has left him paranoid and delusional. When Reznik causes an accident at work that costs a man his arm, he begins to believe that the workers are plotting some sort of conspiracy against him. What results is one of the most shocking and memorable journeys of self discovery you will ever experience.

"The Machinist" stars Christian Bale in the lead role of Trevor Reznik, as well as Michael Ironside as Miller, the man who loses his arm, and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stevie, an affectionate prostitute whom Trevor confides in. Christian Bale steals the whole movie, but it's pretty hard not to when an actor goes to the lengths he did to bring the character to the screen. Before filming, Bale weighed 180 pounds, which is fairly average for his height of 6'2". In less than a year he went down to 115 pounds, filmed the movie, then went up to 220 pounds to film "Batman Begins". As he is told numerous times throughout the course of the film, if he were any thinner he wouldn't exist. However, it is not just his astounding physical presence (or lack thereof) that makes Bale's performance so powerful, it is the emotional and psychological frailty and vulnerability he can convey with just a few words.

Brad Anderson has begun to develop quite a formidable following, with many critics and fans alike saying he is Hitchcock for the new millennium. In "Session 9", he took one of the creepiest places ever caught on film, and managed to make it just as much a character in the story as any of the flesh-and-blood actors inhabiting the locale. With "The Machinist", he has created a much more human story that is less terrifying than "Session 9", but equally unnerving and sporting his signature surrealist look.

While the subject matter may be a little much for some, "The Machinist" is easily one of the more powerful films of recent years. Strong performances all around combine with the superb visuals and Brad Anderson's uncanny talent for telling an emotionally affecting story, and make one of the best films of 2004.

10/10