An Intelligent Film that Definitely Deserves a Rewatch

Rating: 9/10 (9 September 2013)

Fight Club is one of the smartest films I've seen in a long time. The title is a little misleading. It makes the film sound like nothing more than a dumb testosterone flick but in actuality, it's a thrilling, intense look at masculinity and individuality.
The story of this film is that of a unhappy, lonely man who works as an automobile company employee and is only referred to in the film as "The Narrator". He's not enjoying his job, he has insomnia, and he has to go to support groups just to be able to sleep. His life pretty much sucks until he meets Tyler Durden, who is the embodiment of everything the Narrator wishes to be. He's cool, laidback, dresses like a movie star, has a buff body, and most of all, free from consumerism. They quickly form a friendship and one night, they fought each other just for the heck of it and ended up really enjoying so they form a fight club for men to take out their frustrations with their fists. The club gets more and more members overtime so Tyler comes up with "Project Mayhem", a plan to bomb buildings with credit card companies'recordings.
What makes this film so great is how both inviting and disturbing it is. At first, when The Narrator meets Tyler Durden, we see and understand their problems with society because it's actually a very common frustration normal people have. Because of this, it allows us to at least understand where these people are coming from and be able to sitback and enjoy the first half until the second half comes along and gets really freaking dark and intense.
The second half is when it gets dark and disturbing. Instead of them just beating the sh!t out of each other in a basement, they decide to freaking blow up buildings! At this point, you could either be completely disgusted with their behavior, or disagree with their methods but still understand their position, or completely agree with everything they do(minority). But whether or not you agree with their behavior, you still feel sympathy towards the Narrator because he's just a normal guy who happened to have a messed up mental conditioning and he's never EVIL in this movie, he's just frustrated in a lifestyle he doesn't enjoy. So this movie does get pretty darn intense because you care for him.
The directing and acting in this film is superb! David Fincher is considered to be one of the greatest filmmakers of our time and he definitely lives up to the hype in this movie! The way he uses narration, quick-cuts, and CGI-animated sequences is amazing! He makes the audience feel just as lost and confused as The Narrator does in this film because of these things and a mediocre director would've just played generic "suspenseful music" but Fincher adds style and panache to what could have been just a generic psychological thriller.
Everyone does a solid job in this movie. From Edward Norton playing his role with cynicism and frustration, to Brad Pitt making Tyler Durden a surprisingly likable and charming character that is both cool and terrifying, and Helena Bonham Carter who makes her character quirky and kinda funny. All in all, the acting in this film is great!
Lastly, this film brings up a lot of thought-provoking questions. Can you actually be your own man in a world this corporate? Do people really need to be "freed" from their jobs such as construction workers, waiters, cooks, taxi drivers, and teachers to do their own thing? And is there such thing as true freedom? These are all really thought-provoking questions and you'll definitely be thinking about these things after watching this film.
Overall, this is an intelligent, intense film that really makes us think about our positions in life and because of that, I'm gonna give it a 10/10.