Intelligent. Imaginative. Disturbing. Unavoidable.

Rating: Null/10 (25 June 2001)

Whoever you are this film will cause a reaction.
Mine was most definitely a good one. It was well acted, well scripted and well made. It was also very cleverly put together and David Fincher uses some very innovative techniques. At the core of the film however is some very astute and intelligent stuff and is loaded with food for thought.
The basic premise is that the central character (Norton's) starts out living life in misery despite following all the rules set out by society and advertising culture. It is only after he starts going about things the 'wrong' way that he finds solace. This isn't an easy message for a lot of people but it echos the falseness of modern society and is hard to argue against.
There are many people who have slammed the film because it apparently advocates violence and anarchy. The point they are missing is that it only starts that way before slowly demonstrating it slipping out of control. The unpleasantness starts to show through. The hypocrisy becomes evident. (Tyler tries to 'free' people but in the process recruits and effectively brainwashes an army of 'spacemonkeys.') All this goes on until the narrator - and the viewer - are forced to act intelligently and draw a line somewhere and realize that generation X needs to start acting like adults.
Bottom line is that you aren't supposed to like what you see. Violence is repulsive and this film demonstrates that very well. There are far too many films where scores of people fall with bloodless machine gun wounds and people are portrayed as heros for inflicting it. This film shows it warts and all. If it encourages you to do violent things, you need help.
There is no denying that anyone who approaches this film intelligently will have something to think about here. Whether you agree or disagree with the philosophies is one thing, but most of the negative reviews I have seen are from people who either can't stand to see people actually getting hurt on film and have a central character start out squeaky-clean and end up scarred and twisted at the less than happily-ever-after ending, or miss the point entirely that that only by knowing what it is to have nothing, physically and morally, can you appreciate what it is to have something.