Media Type : DVD | Rating : 6.5 out of 10 | Watched on : May 7^th, 2004

Release Date : October 18^th, 2002 | New & Used DVD Price : $16.39 & $14.46

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Equilibrium goes a little bit along the line of The Matrix, though it has its own unique story line overall. The movie has some very good acting by Christian Bale, and the story line is very interesting. Set in the very near future, the whole world is a fascist society where emotions are outlawed. Without emotions, every person acts the same, like a robot from an assembly line. People take doses of a medication periodically during the day to keep any emotional behavior or sentiments away from themselves. People found in breach of this daily routine are sentenced to death and either shot to death during arrests and raids or cremated alive after being arrested. I am surprised this movie did not make the same or even a close impact such as The Matrix; however, this movie is one of the top rated movies of 2002.

Christian Bale does an outstanding performance in this movie, like he almost always does. This maybe the reason he is now destined to become the next Batman movies named “Batman Begins” slated to come out in 2005. The action sequences in this movie are good, and some of the action sequences will warrant their own praise. Christian Bale follows a similar line as Keanu Reeves; Bale drops his dose of the medication to stop his emotions from arising, and thus experiences emotions for the first time in his life. He then keeps missing his doses on purpose, experiencing more unrest within himself and finding out that the system he lives in, is not in the benefit of mankind.

The movie tries to be a dark movie, with everything including kids acting like zombies. The ending may not suffice for many people, where the death of one person leads to a complete revolution. The movie includes some violence and some very interesting stages with either very bright or very dark settings, both achieving the purposes for the scene in question. I just found the “bad guy” the movie not up to par, not even close, to Christian Bale. It takes a strong bad guy and a strong good guy to have a strong duel. When you watch the ending, you will see what I mean; it is evident that Bale is going to give someone a good beating. Overall, this is a good movie to keep if you love action, or love movies like The Matrix and Dark City.