Equilibrium (2002)

While the release of The Matrix set new boundaries for the science fiction genre it also spawned a multitude of films which attempted to capitalize on its success. Equilibrium is one of those films which borrowed some of the style and look of The Matrix and managed to find some cult following among certain science fiction fans, while barely making a mark on the US box office, both in dollars and number of screens.

At the end of World War III a new power reigns supreme, known as the Father and the Tetragrammaton. The Tetragrammaton has remarkable similarities with the Nazi party, and the Father the new Hitler. While the ruler preaches peace and equality it only seems to be arrived at by removing everyone's rights, possessions and emotions. It's a good interpretation of what the world would be like if a dictator actually did rule the world. But like all "paradises" there's always an underlying faction that refuses to fall into line, those who refuse to eliminate their emotions. Referred to as "sense offenders" these rebels are instantly eliminated without care by the police and an extensively trained group of assassins known as the Clerics, who can sense emotion and quickly eliminate large groups of rebels. Christian Bale is John Preston, one of the best Clerics, but John is soon going to question the Tetragrammaton ways when he's forced to execute his partner for breaking the rules. Without giving away his questioned allegiance John must come to grips with emotions he's never experienced before and find a way to contact the resistance and bring down the Father and the Tetragrammaton.

If your looking for a smart, thought provoking storyline then you won't find it here. If your looking for over-the-top stylized action set in a futuristic interpretation of Earth then Equilibrium is the film for you. If not for the numerous action sequences Equilibrium would be a boring science fiction rip-off of many past films which have taken on a similar story line. The acting is mediocre, the storyline is thin, but the action seems to make all that disappear. Overall, Equilibrium is a hybrid of somewhere between Aeon Flux and The Matrix, worth a watch when you have nothing else to do but definitely don't count on it blowing your mind.

6/10