Equilibrium

Bomb Rating: 

Everyone who watches films knows that no bad guy with a machine gun can hit anything. One wonders why they just haven't reverted to throwing rocks or taunting.

I'm guessing that the filmmakers behind "Equilibrium" originally considered the title "Gunkata" before realizing that Kurt Thomas's lone cinematic effort didn't need any additional help to fail.

"Gunkata" is a martial art in which the gun is used as an extension of the hand. The practitioner stands in the middle of a large group of automatic weapon-toting bad guys and fires fast while dancing around. According to the film, this dramatically increases the chances of the practitioner hitting the target while dramatically decreasing the chances of being hit. Why the filmmakers even bother to explain this is beyond me since everyone who watches films knows that no bad guy with a machine gun can hit anything. One wonders why they just haven't reverted to throwing rocks or taunting.

"Equilibrium" takes place in the future in a society that has outlawed feeling, like Norway. Everyone takes a drug to keep themselves level and "sense cops" run around making sure people don't feel. Anything that might cause people to feel (like good paintings) is destroyed. Cleric John Preston is the highest-ranking of all these cops, which means that he'll soon see the error of his ways, fall for a hottie (Emily Watson) and use his skills to fight the forces of evil with his nasty "Gunkata".

Feelings good. Gunkata good. No feelings bad.

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