My Cultural Diet

A hundred years after nuclear war ravaged the planet, Alaska has become a desert wasteland ruled by a fascist military group called the Ownership. When they betray one of their own, he swears vengeance — but his only hope lies in acquiring the titular gun, an overpowered weapon that looks an awful lot like the ridiculous guns I drew in my notebooks back in 6th grade. Put simply, Equalizer 2000 is a blatant Mad Max rip-off by Filipino director Cirio H. Santiago, who often worked with B-movie king Roger Corman and produced several post-apocalyptic flicks. I mainly watched this because I was curious to see Richard Norton in a lead role; up until now, I mainly knew Norton from his work as villains (e.g., Mr. Nice Guy opposite Jackie Chan). Norton, who sadly died this past March, certainly gives being a glowering, stoic anti-hero the ol’ college try, and he’s got the look down pat, complete with feathered hair and perpetually open leather vest. And to his credit, director Santiago apparently never met a pyrotechnic or squib he didn’t like. But Equalizer 2000 never escapes the limitations of its budget, nor is it bizarre or crazy enough to be all that memorable. Nerdy side note: The film also stars a pre-Terminator 2 Robert Patrick in one of his earliest roles.

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