meckert-3

Well it's not a good film to watch on Sunday with your family. It's not a good movie if you're looking for some action. It's not a good movie if you're looking for philosophical dialogs.

But it's a great movie if' you're a Kitano fan. It's a great movie if you're interested in Japanese culture. It's a great movie if you like to sit back for a while and think deeper about what you're watching - it seems that throughout the film there's not much going on - the main character remains mute for most of the time, there is no music soundtrack in the background, the plot itself is not a straightforward one - you'll get the point right only after the last scene.

In some moments "Jugatsu" seems to be telling a simple and seemingly a little boring story - but a second after it blows in your face with aggression so intense that you start to think were it came from. It is not about blowing guts out or shooting people in the head. It's deeper.

What "Jugatsu" is about ? It's about revenge, loyalty, love and violence.

This must be one of the greatest movies I have ever seen ! First of all - the mood is great - this whole movie is a dark cyberpunk-Gothic drama, but yet there is hope that the darkness will come to an end. The second great thing is the animation technique - a mix of computer generated effects (which are truly outstanding) and hand drawn animations. The machines and buildings look very real, there is a lot of 3d action scenes, but hand-drawn characters leave no doubt that this one is a classic anime.

The stunning visuals are accompanied by a great soundtrack.

The story itself is rather predictable - it involves love, rebellion, an treason - and it fits great. I'don't want to spoil the fun, so I won't reveal more.

Well, "Equlibrium" is one of the gratest sci-fi movies ever ... It's a crossover between Orwell's "1984", "The Matrix" and "Bladerunner". Like in "1984" the main character, Preston lives in a totalitarian state - Libria. He is a grammaton cleric, a man who is train to fight and kill "sense offenders" - people who chose to feel, rather than take prozium - a drug that eliminates emotions. All Librians have to take prozium daily - they are a society that eliminated all human emotions, which they believed are the source of all evil. Preston forgets to take his doze of prozium one day and wakes up as a different man ...

Similar to "The Matrix" we have great fighting scenes, but unlike Neo Preston doesn't have any unnatural abilities, so he uses plain fists, guns, or samurai blades and all laws of physics apply :-) Like in "Bladerunner" in "Equlibrium" we see a post-apocalypse hi-tech society, and a lone man who is trying to find out what he's true feelings are.

Christian Bale plays great, same as all remaining actors. The special effects are there and they look good, but computer generated graphics are only a background and unlike many of today action films the focus is on the characters, not the technical fireworks of computer generated animations.

The movie has some minor downsides: first of all it is too short ! 107 minutes is not enough - additional 30 minutes would add depth to the action and would allow to expand character's backgrounds. Second thing is that we get to see Sean Bean only during the first 15 minutes of the movie - what a waste ! But in the end "Equlibrium" is a true masterpiece, that outclasses IMHO all the "Matrix" movies ..... 9/10 !!!