Equals

We shan't be fooled - original ideas, concepts and scripts come by very rarely these days. Over the years I've come to accept that we shall not blatantly blame the creative team for the lack of some originality whether it is on similar premise, plot points, slight clichés, or visual styles. But when the final product is just a lazy mash up all the above, ripped off of arguably better previous films, as well as famed English literature at its most obvious, is just harder to swallow. If you ever watched Kurt Wimmer's Equilibrium and Michael Bay's the Island you have most certainly watched Doremus' Equals.

Pretentiously disguising the outright obvious rehash of ideas of a dystopian society where the inhabitants are deprived of different forms of freedom for the sake of a Utopian perfect society, with slower pacing, contemplating set up shots and heartfelt-advertising- like cinematography, we are left with a most forgetful film that never once introduces a single differentiating or provocative element.

Equals is set in a futuristic world where, inexplicably, people have decided to "do away with emotions." Of course this phrase never has any real meaning, since any kind of inclination to do anything can be counted as an emotion. So really it's a sci-fi setting to explore the practice of the suppression of emotions. A problem which has never existed.

OK, before I trash the movie too much: the acting is fine, the set design and look are very good, and the world-building is excellent. But what is the story here? Two people who aren't supposed to fall in love do so anyway. Call me a cynic but I need more than that.

Compare and contrast Equals with The Lobster, another sci- fi/dystopian movie about suppressing emotions. Rather, The Lobster compares the societal demand that people form couples, regardless of how dysfunctional they are, against an underground movement of people who insist that being single should not be cause for rejection by society (though the rebels go too far the other way, adopting the "no emotional connections" attitude that fits with Equals). Somehow The Lobster manages to fit an interesting and funny story into the world. Equals? It gives us practically nothing.

Perhaps this is just a distillation of the concept of Forbidden Love. I really expected more.

Throughout my entire first watching of the film I was left with the impression that this movie takes place in the same universe as Equilibrium. Same plot line. Same history. So instead of feeling like this movie is a copycat, I went with the idea that it is just another story line from the same time-line. This makes it easier to watch. That being said, this movie is basically just a string of recognizable ideas. I would never describe it as original, or surprising. It seemed like the love child of many different well-known stories. The movie was brilliantly filmed, however. And the main actors did a fantastic job. It was fun to watch from beginning to end; compelling, interesting, and emotionally moving. It is worth a watch.

First of all I very much liked this film. It's alway lovely to watch two symmetrically perfect human beings enjoy each other and allow us to watch. Kristen Stewart is an underrated actress with the potential of great things and I hope to enjoy her more. Nicholas Hoult is a beautiful man and a very good actor who is developing well. This film is, however, an incredible rip off of George Lucas' first film, THX 1138. How the film makers weren't sued I don't know. The near future is blandly gorgeous with "clean" humans whose only dread is obsolescence by way of our frailty as emotional, thoughtful creatures.. This has been bred out of us however genetics is a persistent and ever evolving pesky little demon which has weakened our ability to resist the aforementioned weakness of emotions. We witness two intelligent but remorselessly bland individuals slowly realize that they are inflected with emotion. Unfortunately those that can not fight it are doomed to the DEN where they are ruthlessly tortured and persuaded to kill themselves. Both Hoult, "Silas" and Stewart "Nia" fall in love and the plot then revolves on them getting away with it and getting away. There is good supporting drama from Guy Pierce and the wonderful Jacki Weaver but I am haunted by the future always being shades of grey with the only hope being that of escape. I loved THX 1138 when I was a very young film lover and I remember it. Which is why I liked Equals. I only hope it was meant as a homage. However I don't think I will remember it.

There were a lot of parts about this movie that I didn't like. I'm tempted to give it a 7. Then I remember the way that it affected me emotionally, and I have to bump up the score. It made me think, and made me very sad. I feel a little traumatized at this point, but for me, that's a good thing.