Equilibrium Details

If you get the feeling that you've seen Equilibrium before, you probably have — or bits of it at least. From the 1984-style dystopian setting and Fahrenheit 451 theme of social censorship to the visual influence of The Matrix, this is a bit of a sci-fi smorgasbord. An impressively pumped-up Christian Bale plays a “Cleric”, a futuristic cop whose job it is to enforce a law compelling the population to take an emotion-suppressing drug. But when he himself stops taking the medication, he slowly experiences the joys of free expression and even manages to fall in love (with renegade “sense-offender” Emily Watson). Despite often being preposterous and heavy-handed, there are enough slick visuals to offset the overall silliness, and the displays of “Gun-kata” — a blend of martial arts and gunplay — provide some blistering action scenes.

John Preston (Bale) is a top Grammaton cleric in the post-World War III dystopia of Libria, an enforcer with stupendous... read more on Time Out