Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | August 08, 2005 | | Summary | Vastly superior to the Matrix!!!!!! | Content
 | Equilibrium is a movie that follows in the footsteps of the Matrix, yet is better than its predecessor in every possible way. The acting is excellent notably by Christian Bale, who isa much better actor than Keannu Reeves. Bale should have been Neo. It would have been a much better movie. The plot of Equilibrium is better and the fights are even better! The plot of this movie is thought provoking, very original and very memorable. The movie is set in the future in a very change world after World War III. In this future, feelings of any kind are outlawed as are objects that provoke feelings. Everyone injects themselves so that they never feel. Christian Bale plays a cop that finds sense offenders and arrests them. But this world is depressing and weird. Christian Bale's character can't take it anymore and becomes the leader of the rebellion against this world.
The movie is very moving and interesting, and the fight scenes are absolutely amazing. The final fight is AWESOME and very memorable!
This movie is worth a buy thanks to the amazing fights and the memoralbe story! This movie IS better than the Matrix in every possible way and I strongly recommend it to anyone wanting to watch a good action/ sci fi movie. It has some of the most memorable fighting scenes ever and everything just seems to click in this awesome movie. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 26, 2005 | | Summary | It's not as good as The Matrix. It's better. | Content
| Why was this movie so universally loathed among critics? (Well, not quite-Roger Ebert once again shows he has taste.) Equilibrium is every bit The Matrix's equal when it comes to action, and it packs an even greater emotional punch than that much-lauded film. Christian Bale plays John Preston, a cleric of the new order of mankind-an oppressive dictatorship that, by mandate of "The Father", forces citizens to take emotion-killing drugs. Violators, or "sense offenders", are punished by death, so it's hard to blame the zombie legions for taking their medicine every day. At first glance, Preston appears to be a villain, but little by little he comes to rediscover what it is to experience emotion. This leads him to seriously question his loyalties. Rather than lazily run on autopilot, the movie is unpredictable, subtle, and tense. It is full of delightfully clever little touches; Bale's Mona Lisa smile was too perfect, as was the little boy telling his sister not to play with her cereal-you'll see what I mean. Equilibrium is a movie that separates the jaded critics from those who still know what a classic feels like. Batman Begins was good, but this in my opinion is Christian Bale's finest hour. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 26, 2005 | | Summary | 5 Stars | Content
| Equilibrium effectivly tells one of those rare stories that force us out of the glamor created by our world of fluff culture. I'm talking about the 1984's and Schindler's Lists of the entertainment world. It makes you reconsider what your willing to give up in exchange for civil order. Would you give up love? How about Hate? It also pushes the envelope for best/most original action scenes in recent history. Watch this movie if you can, let yourself get into it, and come to a better understanding of both yourself and whats' important to you. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 25, 2005 | | Summary | Two Words: Gun Kata | Content
| "Equilibrium" is a visually and psychologically stunning film that nearly puts "the Matrix" (which came out around the same time) to shame. Alas, due to a low-brow marketing campaign (no doubt stemming from lack of studio faith in the movie), Equilibrium is a sadly under-appreciated work.
Equilibrium can be enjoyed on two completely independent levels, as either a fascinating, dystopian look at the future, or as an exquisite piece of action par-excellence. And it is this duality which allows the film to transcend both the standard sci-fi and action movie fare. Equilibrium combines the very best of both genres, whilst avoiding many of the stereotypes and pitfalls of either.
Even the laziest viewers who are most unwilling to work their brains will thoroughly enjoy this movie at its "basest level", due to two words: "Gun Kata". Quite simply, Gun Kata is mesmerising and unbelievable. I cannot describe it to you in words; you have to see it for yourself. I don't know how the budget of this movie compares to the Matrix, but the special effects of this film compare favourably, and in some ways put Neo to shame. According to the film, super law-enforcers known as "clerics" have perfected a deadly, nearly invincible art of combat called "Gun Kata", which essentially does for guns what martial arts did for other more traditional weapons such as swords. Think of these clerics as Jedi-enforcers, but for an evil "Empire".
By using statistical analysis of likely bullet trajectories, combined with full integration of the gun as a martial arts weapon, a gun kata master is able to take down dozens of armed opponents unscathed whilst seeming to not move from his original standing spot. Onscreen, gun kata will unavoidably earn comparison with bullet time from the Matrix. However, gun kata is presented in real-time, and that is its strength; it is far faster, more furious, and visceral than bullet-time could ever hope to be. Prepare to be amazed.
Viewers with a bit more brain fluid to spare can ponder on the film's intriguing sci-fi premise and taut, well-paced plot. After the Third World War, most of civilisation was apparently destroyed, and the surviving government decided that humanity could not possibly survive a fourth. It was determined that emotion is the root of all evil and war. Thus, to eliminate war, humanity must eliminate emotion; by sacrificing the "good" emotions of love and euphoria, we gain peace and order because we have also eliminated hate, anger, and intolerance along with them. This starts to sound like a perverted version of the teachings of the Jedi Council from Star Wars. The citizens of this city state of "Libria" are thus forced to take an emotion-suppressing drug called Prozium. All works of art, literature, etc. (including the Mona Lisa, incinerated in the opening scene of the movie) which could potentially encite emotion are judiciously destroyed, and all "sense-offenders", those who either traffick these illicit items, or refuse to take their medicine, are hunted down by the clerics and "processed" (executed).
Enter a pre-Batman Christian Bale, who portrays the top-ranking cleric of this police-state, whose Prozium capsule breaks one morning, and decides to skip a dose. This of course changes his life, and determines the plot for the rest of the film. Bale is perfect in this role, starting out as an (understandably) wooden "tin man" who slowly regains his "heart" through the course of the movie. Emily Watson, Bale's "obligatory" love interest, is likewise a strong addition to the cast. Their love story is done in a very subtle and undercut way, one that furthers both the plot and character development, which is more than I can say for most movies these days. Bale's partner is played by Taye Diggs, who is brilliant in this film, if for no other reason than his enigmatic, Cheshire-cat grin which makes you wonder how much he knows, and what he's up to. Diggs' arrogance grows throughout the film, until he too, like Bale's character, becomes "feeling", but with very different results. Character development is exceedingly strong in this film, and all of it is exceedingly delicious to watch.
The world of "Equilibrium" is one filled with hypocrisy, lies, and dirtiness. However, like most dystopian scifi films, there is also hope behind the grime. In the end, the human spirit triumphs, and that is what gives this movie its heart and appeal. That and Gun Kata. |
| Rating | | | Date | July 23, 2005 | | Summary | Screw Neo! Bale is The One | Content
| I would like to begin by saying that this movie kicks most big budget action movies asses. Bale makes Neo look like a noob with cheats and God mode turned on. Some people have blasted the film for the fact that the actors show some emotion when they shouldnt be. First off, would you want to see a movie were everyone shows the acting skills of Hayden Christensen (though I loved Episodes 2 and 3). Furthermore, if you have ever watched the interview with the Writer/Director Kurt Wimmer than you would know the drug that supresses emotion only supresses the extreme highs and lows, not simple versions of jealousy, anger, happiness, etc. That's why i love this movie. And to that JohnQPublic guy(if he ever reads this)and gives it a bad review(which he is inclined to do) i say this: Blow me! C$ckbite. |
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