Set in a post World War III environment, "Equilibrium" may be one of the most action-packed movies you have never seen.
The film enjoyed limited success in its theatrical run due to poor critical acclaim and an initial release run that consisted of only the top 20 markets - New Mexico was not one of them.
Fortunately, the DVD will be released May 13, which will give everyone who missed this dark action flick a chance to judge it for themselves.
While many critics tore the film apart for its heavy reliance on "Matrix-esque" style of cinematography, "Equilibrium" is fresh and stylish. The film features some of the most jaw-dropping and original gun battles ever seen.
In a post-apocalyptical world, an oppressive government has eliminated war by suppressing emotions. Books, music and art are prohibited and emotion is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Christian Bale of "American Psycho") is a top-ranking government agent responsible for bringing those who resist emotional deadening to justice.
When he misses his dosage of a Prozium, a mind-alterering drug used to stomp out human emotion, Preston, who has been trained since childhood to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it.
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"Equilibrium" is a combination of Ray Bradbury's classic Fahrenheit 451 with a little bit of George Orwell's 1984 thrown in. In the movie, society has eliminated crime by eliminating emotions. The people all go around like automatons, except for the rebellious few led by William Fichtner who forgo their daily dose of emotion inhibitor at the risk of a violent and bullet-riddled death.
In their underground network, the rebels share illegal contraband like books, art, music and poetry, and dare to hang out in secret rooms with color on the walls and everything else that is banned by the thought police.
Preston is a police-type enforcer or cleric, who has no qualms about eliminating anybody who breaks the rules, including his partner.
But after he misses his Prozium, things change. During a routine raid on the dastardly sense offenders, he meets an intriguing woman, Mary O'Brien (Emily Watson) who manages to get through to him by cleverly using her perfume and a ribbon from her hair. Soon his new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs) begins to suspect Preston is getting dangerously close to becoming a sensory criminal and begins to do his own secret investigation.
Perhaps the most fetching aspects of this movie are the gunfight scenes. While over the top and in many instances, completely unbelievable, they are pure energy. Using a hybrid form of martial arts and gunplay, the Cleric's are a force to be reckoned with.
Throughout the movie, small clues are given about the "Gun-Kata" fighting style used by the Clerics in an attempt to make their precision and apparent immunity to bullets more believable. Whether this subtle-hint system worked or not is debatable, but the ferociousness and cool factor of the fight scenes are undeniable.
Maybe you hate action movies and like to think about every detail of plot as you watch. If so, this movie may not be for you. However if you just love some kick-ass action and would like to spend a while wrapped in the comfort of a barrage of bullets and some of the most original fight scenes since
