Review of Equilibrium (2002) by Sam M — 17 Jul 2013

Equilibrium has a premise that is not terribly original - we get a totalitarian, fascist-like future society that has decided after a devastating world war that human emotions are the root of all worldly problems. The solution? Suppress emotions with an inhibiting drug and provide mandatory daily dosages, missing even one of which is punishable by death. The law is enforced by a cadre of agents known as "Clerics" - masters of hand-to-hand combat and firearms. It's a dismal vision of the future that has been mirrored by numerous authors, filmmakers, and people in general throughout the years.

What makes the movie interesting is that the themes are explored through the eyes of one of the "Clerics", and his gradual awakening as he himself misses several doses of the emotion suppressing drug. The performances are excellent, and the action often takes a backseat as the characters develop and interact. This will turn off many Matrix fans, as there are a few extended portions of the film where action and tension are absent. When the action does hit, however, the impact is greater. I love The Matrix and I loved Equilibrium. They are not really even the same type of movie. Something that I definitely had never seen before was "Gunkata," a fictitious method of self defense that includes handguns as the primary weapon. That was to me an interesting concept and made for some very exciting scenes.

The flaws I noted were relatively few. For a society with suppressed emotions, I felt some of the characters smiled or otherwise expressed themselves a bit too much. I also felt that Angus MacFayden was definitely miscast (though Christian Bale was perfectly cast).