Think Fahrenheit 451 meets The Matrix meets John Woo meets George Orwell, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect from Equilibrium.
Equilibrium (2002)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:81
Fresh:29
Rotten:52
Average Rating:4.7/10
Consensus: Equilibrium is a reheated mishmash of other sci-fi movies.
Theatrical Release:Dec 6, 2002 Limited
Box Office: $1,050,459
Synopsis: Director Kurt Wimmer (ULTRAVIOLET) injects style into this sci-fi/action film that channels the visual energy of THE MATRIX and invokes the politics of BRAVE NEW WORLD. In a futuristic society... Director Kurt Wimmer (ULTRAVIOLET) injects style into this sci-fi/action film that channels the visual energy of THE MATRIX and invokes the politics of BRAVE NEW WORLD. In a futuristic society where the government requires citizens to stay tranquil and submissive by taking a psychological drug, people no longer have emotions. Because of this, there are no more wars, but there is also no literature, music, or art of any kind. But when an enforcement agent (Christian Bale, THE DARK KNIGHT) realizes that peaceful oblivion may not be the answer, he thinks about overthrowing his oppressors. EQUILIBRIUM’s cast also includes Sean Bean (THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING), Taye Diggs (CHICAGO), William Fichtner (PRISON BREAK), and Emily Watson (RED DRAGON). [More]
Starring: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs, William Fichtner
Starring: Christian Bale, Sean Bean, Taye Diggs, William Fichtner, Emily Watson, Angus MacFadyen
Director: Kurt Wimmer
Director: Kurt Wimmer
Screenwriter: Kurt Wimmer
Studio: Dimension Films
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Release:
May 13, 2003
Reviews for Equilibrium
The premise is overshadowed by the uberviolence of the Clericks as this becomes just another kung-fu sci-fi movie with silly action sequences.
... a preachy parable stylized with a touch of John Woo bullet ballet.
With too much emphasis on the stylishly shot fight and action sequences rather than the sci-fi or even human elements, the film is all flash and little substance, even when it pretends to be interested in the latter.
Fails as a dystopian movie, as a retooling of Fahrenheit 451, and even as a rip-off of The Matrix.
A science-fiction pastiche so lacking in originality that if you stripped away its inspirations there would be precious little left.
What it lacks in originality it makes up for in intelligence and B-grade stylishness.
The self-serious Equilibrium makes its point too well; a movie, like life, isn't much fun without the highs and lows.
If there was a solitary new idea or actual emotion in Equilibrium, the Prozium must have rendered me oblivious.
Someone should have arrested Wimmer for being a common-sense offender when he first typed the script.
There is something charming in the way it bravely invites derision, like the boy in the high school play who can't remember his lines and decides to milk an awkward situation for laughs instead.
An atrocious hodgepodge of dystopian-future clichés from wannabe auteur Kurt Wimmer.
Wimmer's narrative sloppiness makes one think he's popped a few too many pills, since Equilibrium often feels like a sense offense itself.
Silly stuff, all mixed up together like a term paper from a kid who can't quite distinguish one sci-fi work from another.
`Matrix'-style massacres erupt throughout...but the movie has a tougher time balancing its violence with Kafka-inspired philosophy.
The fun here is not so much in the solid if stolid performances from Bale and co-stars Taye Diggs and Emily Watson ... or in Wimmer’s overpolished plot devices as it is in the production values.
Combining elements of 1984, Fahrenheit 451 and The Matrix, this ridiculous sci-fi mish-mash sounds appealing, but is nothing more than a poorly designed knockoff.
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