Equilibrium

In this movie from 2002, starring Christian Bale, It had the most creative fighting scenes ever! I loved the fighting scene at the end, where Christian Bale took on like 80 guys at once by himself and seems unhurt at the end. In comparing this movie to George Orwell's 1984, I found notable comparisons, from Christian BaLE'S CHILDREN, TO The Parson children in the novel. Both had children whom by apperances seemed loyal to the party, and willing to turn in thier parents. Likewise, the book and movie, have monitored coversations, i.e., through tvs. In both, the main character is drawn away from the desired living, and rebells. I like how Chrisitan Bale's character turns, when he accidently destroys a dosage of medicine he has to take. His orginal partner is like Syme or Julia, because they were also drawn to rebelion against the goverment.

This movie is great! the best part in the movie is when christian bale slices off ty diggs front of his face. bale is a very good main character and has many good fighting scenes. also this movie relates to 1984 becauseof the control of the goverment and the way people believe what they are told. Also i really liked how the movie ended the climax was very well put together.

Mr. Yochum's 5/6 Senior English Class.
I thought that Equilibrium was a great movie. There was a lot of action in the movie. I thought that Christian Bale was great in this movie. I also found his character John Preston to be very interesting. I found many similarities between this movie and the book 1984 by George Orwell. For instance they both have a figure that is all powerful whether it is Father or Big Brother. Furthermore in the movie and book the main character ends up having "feeling" which in there societies they are not suppose to have. Also in the book and movie there are children that work for the government and turn adults in for not following the government's beliefs. The only difference between the two is that in the book the government wins, but in the movie the government is overturned. Lastly, I found the movie to be a great thrill.

At first, I thought, a Matrix ripoff. But I was wrong. There are elements of Matrix, of course. BUT..... For the informed viewer, there are also hints of 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Logan's Run, THX 1138, Aeon Flux, I'm sure I could go on. What this means is that any good NEW tale relies on the threads of classics from before. Yes, I was pleasantly surprised when I watched this movie. By all means, watch it, and enjoy. The only problem. . . with all these English speaking actors, why didn't Bale just use his own natural accent?

I can easily see why people either love or loathe this one. Personally, it had aspects I enjoyed, as well as aspects that annoyed me, hence my middle of the road rating. In all honesty, the more I thought about it, the less I liked it, but you could also argue that the fact the film made me think about it at all after watching is a good thing...

On the plus side, there's some decent cinemetography, and sets were great. I especially liked the forced juxtaposition of drab, monotonous sets with brightly colored ones, which was especially effective in underscoring the film's theme.

As for the negative: the plot was painfully predictable -- especially if you even have a passing familiarity with 1984, Brave New World, etc. I called all but one plot point within the first 20 minutes. The script/dialogue was also hum-drum with little "good" dialogue, though the case could be made for that being intentional given the forced-emotionless milieu.

I would also consider the fight sequences to be a negative, though they actually deserve their own paragraph. Although I can see how they would be a big appeal of the film -- admittedly they were well done/choreographed within their context -- but in all honesty, I found them out of place. Having super-human moves like these make sense only within context: similar effects in The Matrix or Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon are okay because those are by definition other-worldly (a computer sim and a fantasy setting, respectively.) That is brazenly NOT the case with Equilibrium, and we are supposed to believe that someone can dodge bullets simply because of a little study on the subject. Sorry, but that's just too much suspension of disbelief for me, especially since this film otherwise purports to be grounded in "reality."

If you like films that are just fight-fests and don't really care about "plot" except as a contrived means to get you from one battle to the next, then this film will *probably* appeal to you... though it probably has too much "plot" and not enough "action" for your tastes. Personally, I like to see people using their wits (rather than their fists) to get out of sticky situations, so if you fall into a similar category, skip it. At the very least, go into it expecting a relatively brainless popcorn flick.