Sci-Fi Pick: Equilibrium
There’s something engaging about dystopian films that sucks audiences in. They’ve been tapping into our fear of just about everything for the past century, and there are more releasing now than ever before. We’ve got a great slate of dystopian films coming out over the next year, with one of the most striking ones being the Mad Max reboot, but in between watching those, you can check out Kurt Wimmer’s tale of a world without emotion: Equilibrium.
Christian Bale stars as John Preston, a police officer working in 2072 Liberia whose job is to ensure that no artistic expression or emotion is shown by anyone anywhere. He’s spent his entire life tracking down these “sense offenses,” which occur when someone stops taking their emotion-suppressing prescription. The thing is, his own wife was killed due to violation of those rules. Of course, Preston eventually decides that the system is wrong, and fights to bring down the very group he once strove so hard to defend.
While watching an emotionless Bale is a kind of cool thing, a slew of badass action scenes is what makes Wimmer’s film so damn enjoyable. The way the gun fights and martial arts are handled is Matrix-esque, but watching Bale be the operator heightens intensity. I’m sure this was one of the main roles that convinced EVERYONE Bale was well worth considering for Batman in Nolan’s reboot.
This is a weird movie in terms of the disconnect between critic and audience response. Most fans seem to love it, and it’s constantly popping up on best of sci-fi lists, but the film only is in the 30% range on Rotten Tomatoes. Well, this critic is definitely one that would give Equilibrium a positive review, and I highly recommend you check it out.
That’s it for today, but be sure to tune in next week though for another edition of We Got Netflix Covered! Also, be sure to leave a comment and let us know if you enjoyed any of these picks.