Review by Dead Derrick
Country Of Origin: USA
(Spoken in English)
USA Release: Friday, December 6, 2002 (Limited Theatrical)
MPAA Rating: R for Violence
Running Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
Distributor: Dimension
Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
Written by: Kurt Wimmer
Starring: Christian Bale as John Preston, Emily Watson as Mary O'Brien, Taye Diggs as Andrew Brandt, Angus MacFayden as Vice-Counsel DuPont, Sean Bean as Errol Patridge, Matthew Harbour as Robbie Preston, William Fichtner as Jurgen, Sean Pertwee as Father
EQUILIBRIUM is a science-fiction thriller that takes a route we know well, but does it in a different way. The tolitarian society in this film has outlawed artistic expression and also forces society to take daily amounts of drugs to supress emotions. It's a pretty bleak future (no art, no pets, no fun) where a group of enforcers known as Clerics punish those who disobey and dare to express themselves with death.
This future has been brought on from the aftermath of a third World War. One Cleric in particular has done well in this society, despite the government killing his wife and his son being a Cleric in training. After having to kill his former partner (Bean), John Preston (Bale) begins to feel emotions of his own. He realizes that not all is right with this extremist society. It begins with small things (keeping a puppy as a pet) and slowly progresses to a plot of taking down "Father" (the person in control of this government).
Audiences expecting lots of MATRIX-like action scenes (of which the trailer and DVD cover attempt to convey) might find themselves pretty disappointed. This is a film with some heady material, it's not just a big dumb popcorn flick. I was pleasantly surprised with this. It's also a testament to Christian Bale's talent as an actor that we understand why he lets certain people die and others live. We side with his character and feel the anxiety that he is going through.
There are some really neat twists near the finale of the film. One of which I really didn't see coming, but none of them feel cheap or unneeded. The scale on which this story is set is epic and the budget constraints rarely show. That's quite a damn good job on Kurt Wimmer's part as both the director and writer.
EQUILIBRIUM is not a perfect film though. The fight scenes do remind one of THE MATRIX on many occasions, despite there not being too many. In fact, this movie isn't completely new. We've seen ideas and societys like this covered before in other (better) movies. That doesn't make EQUILIBRIUM a bad film though. It does add some new ideas to what was previously done.
Grade: B: EQUILIBRIUM has more heady and deep goals than just to make a big popcorn movie. It's a very cool film that is well acted and mostly well done. Check out this underrated flick if you get the chance!
