Equilibrium (2002)
Directed by Kurt Wimmer
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
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What with all the ludicrous maxims (“Breath is a just a clock ticking”), “Justice League” infrastructure names (sense offenders are taken to the Hall of Justice before being burned in the Hall of Destruction) and buzz terms (“processing” and “execution”) Wimmer freely throws around, Equlibrium could pass for a 13-year-old’s book report on the totalitarian themes of 1984 and Farenheit 451.
For starters, the film retreads similar, over-reactionary themes found in other sci-fi works such as "1984" and "Fahrenheit 451."
Borrowing enough from the dystopian science-fiction visions of "1984," "Brave New World" and "Fahrenheit 451" to remind us how thought-provoking the genre can be in the hands of the masters, writer-director Kurt Wimmer's painfully unoriginal "Equilibrium" isn't likely to have the Big Brothers of the world shaking in their boots.
Havenâ??t these guys read Animal Farm, 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, and isnâ??t the point that the powers that be in Libria have rejected their ideas and now set out to crush them?
A student so inclined could have a fine, obsessive time linking images and action sequences to all the influences (including ''1984,'' ''Fahrenheit 451,'' and ''Brave New World'') that have been scooped up wholesale by writer-director Kurt Wimmer, stirred in an often violent frenzy, and microwaved for serving.
Writer/director Kurt Wimmer’s “Equilibrium” is a b-movie update of “Fahrenheit 451” and “1984,” with a hint of “The Matrix” thrown in for good measure.
The rebel group in "Equilibrium" preserves art and music (there is a touching scene where Preston listens to a jazz record), and we are reminded of Bradbury and Truffaut's "Fahrenheit 451," where book lovers committed banned volumes to memory.
Yes, the idea is so good, it's one you'll find various bits and pieces of in such earlier films as "Logan's Run," "Fahrenheit 451," "1984," "The Matrix" and "Pleasantville."
Then, once the premise is established, one quickly sees that the story is going to be heading down a similar route to that found in other sci-fi films such as "Logan's Run" and "Minority Report."
Equilibrium, the new movie being unceremoniously dumped into theaters by Miramax (anyone remember Below ?), fails as a dystopian movie, as a retooling of Fahrenheit 451, and even as a rip-off of The Matrix.
Its similarity to “The Matrix” is only in tone and resourcefulness, as there is, thankfully, no “wire-fu” in the film.
Pulling scenes entire from Blade Runner, Citizen Kane , and The Matrix while pulling philosophies entire from--yes, I was surprised, too--Gymkata, Equilibrium is another Dimension genre film made for no money that stinks a lot like Gary Fleder's excrescent Impostor from earlier this year, though it somehow manages to be considerably funnier.
Watching Equilibrium, you could be forgiven for thinking that writer-director Kurt Wimmer simply got fed up with waiting for the sequels to The Matrix (due May 15th and November 7th) and decided to make his own low-budget version.
Combining elements of "1984," "Fahrenheit 451" and "The Matrix," this ridiculous sci-fi mish-mash sounds appealing, but is nothing more than a poorly designed knockoff.
Yes, the idea is so good, it's one you'll find various bits and pieces of in such earlier films as "Logan's Run," "Fahrenheit 451," "1984," "The Matrix" and "Pleasantville."
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With a dash of wit, Wimmer even gives John a cute puppy to contend with, not to mention Emily Watson (in what amounts to an extended cameo) as Mary, a "sense offender" whose Beethoven record touches John's underused soul, just like Alex in A Clockwork Orange.
Pulling scenes entire from Blade Runner, Citizen Kane , and The Matrix while pulling philosophies entire from--yes, I was surprised, too--Gymkata, Equilibrium is another Dimension genre film made for no money that stinks a lot like Gary Fleder's excrescent Impostor from earlier this year, though it somehow manages to be considerably funnier.
Pulling scenes entire from Blade Runner, Citizen Kane , and The Matrix while pulling philosophies entire from--yes, I was surprised, too--Gymkata, Equilibrium is another Dimension genre film made for no money that stinks a lot like Gary Fleder's excrescent Impostor from earlier this year, though it somehow manages to be considerably funnier.
Although he's not present for long, Sean Bean ("The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Don't Say a Word") appears as the original partner, while William Fichtner ("Black Hawk Down," "The Perfect Storm") plays a rebel leader.
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It’s the Joffrey Ballet meets “Natural Born Killers.”
After cutting his teeth as a director on the Brian Bosworth vehicle One Tough Bastard, Kurt Wimmer proves himself grotesquely unprepared for his hyphenate debut: the futuristic stink-fest Equilibrium, starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, and Taye Diggs.
Yet, Wimmer (director of "One Tough Bastard" and writer of "The Thomas Crown Affair") seems far more interested in fashioning "Matrix" style action sequences rather than the thought-provoking sci-fi allegory that this acts like it's going to be.
Wimmer (1995's "One Tough Bastard") postulates a post-World War III world in which humans' problem-causing ability to feel emotions has been neutralized by government-enforced doses of a drug called Prozium.