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Title: Equilibrium (2002)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Christian Bale | ... | John Preston | |
| Dominic Purcell | ... | Seamus | |
| Sean Bean | ... | Partridge | |
| Christian Kahrmann | ... | Officer in Charge | |
| John Keogh | ... | Chemist | |
| Sean Pertwee | ... | Father | |
| William Fichtner | ... | Jurgen | |
| Angus Macfadyen | ... | Dupont (as Angus MacFadyen) | |
 |
David Barrash | ... | Evidentiary Storage Officer |
| Dirk Martens | ... | Gate Guard | |
| Taye Diggs | ... | Brandt | |
| Matthew Harbour | ... | Robbie Preston | |
| Maria Pia Calzone | ... | Preston's Wife | |
|
|
Emily Siewert | ... | Lisa Preston |
| Emily Watson | ... | Mary O'Brien | |
In a futuristic world, a strict regime has eliminated war by suppressing emotions: books, art and music are strictly forbidden and feeling is a crime punishable by death. Cleric John Preston (Bale) is a top ranking government agent responsible for destroying those who resist the rules. When he misses a dose of Prozium, a mind-altering drug that hinders emotion, Preston, who has been trained to enforce the strict laws of the new regime, suddenly becomes the only person capable of overthrowing it. Written by Anonymous
My review is one on Christian Bale rather than the movie per se. His going from stone-cold to an emotional man is simply flawless. He gets to transmit everything the story needs at the right time. Bale is the greatest actor of his generation and never afraid to get his hands REALLY dirty. He's played a highly controversial psycho (in an admittedly light version of a really crude and insightful novel... But you realise after you watch him, every time you read the novel again HE IS Patrick Bateman), a LITERALLY starving and tormented loner (please see The Machinist if only for his PERFECT, ground-breaking work of art, which includes both his acting skills and his beyond-emaciated body), a hopeful gay teenager turned hopeless adult (Velvet Goldmine, where he's amazingly accurate in a minor -as length goes- role and you really believe he's a shy and lively teenager and minutes later you believe he's a weary, melancholy adult), a conflicted superhero (the best Batman by far, followed by Michael Keaton of course) and all sorts of middle-of-the-road characters. He's not your average mainstream star and he'll never be, I hope... He's too much in love with his work to become that. Good for him.
Equilibrium is a very fine movie. Highly entertaining, the score was more than okay, the casting does a really good job (I liked The Matrix -although I prefer Equilibrium's sobriety and rhythm, which many may find boring-, but come on... The actors were inferior and I'm sorry but Keanu Reeves just can't make it. Where Bale is all complex, nuanced and charismatic, Reeves is just handsome wood) and the fight scenes are beautiful to look at. Cons are the Father, who seemed too weak to me, and the ending which doesn't do justice to what comes before. In any case, this is an above-average sci-fi flick. Take a look.