Highly underrated and highly original: Don't believe the violence hype...

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2000)

I, like most people before seeing this film, was led to believe by the trailers that this film was going to be another feeble attempt at legitimizing a "Mortal Kombat" class of B movie. After seeing it for the first time it became obvious that this was not the case. Fight Club is undoubtedly one of the most original and entertaining film I have witnessed in quite some time.
Virtually every aspect of this film works: the direction, acting, script, dialogue, and even the streamlined non-plot that somehow becomes an interesting one out of thin air. Unfortunately the absolute ending does prove a bit weak but by the time you have reached that point in the film it really doesn't matter. By the time the ending has arrived I found myself more entertained than I would have ever expected from such a frankly, sophomoric title. I was very pleasantly surprised with every aspect.
The unfortunate aspect of this film was very likely the title. A few besides myself may remember mild protests and talk shows berating the irresponsible behavior of the producers of the film for making such a violent, repulsive piece of work. I feel quite sure after seeing this film that the verbal tirade-tossers had not seen much of the film other than the trailers. This film has half of the "violence for the sake of violence" type of sequences than The Patriot or an even better example The Gladiator contain. Oddly, no one has complained about the multiple beheadings in either of these films who clearly had to have the violence to fill the void the plot and the script couldn't manage. This is not the case of Fight Club.
I find it disappointing that a lot of people will not see this film based purely on its title. Violence is not the moral to this story: It seems to be more of a consequence in the lives of the characters. This film is about finding yourself and ultimately realizing you are what you are and learning to deal with it or decide to step over the edge. And it's actually quite funny at times as an unexpected bonus.
I have personally heard quite a bit of grumbling about the "impossibility" factor of some of the events of the film, and honestly can't whole-heartedly disagree. The question I would ask those who stake this claim as a reason to call this a bad film: Did you believe that monkeys could fly after seeing The Wizard of Oz? I would think that the virtual IKEA catalogue would have triggered most to accept this movie as something other than a documentary.
The Verdict: Funny, slick, smart, angry, original and memorable. The first rule of Fight Club: Don't let a few media-hyped naysayers push you away from an extremely original and entertaining film.