After the release of The Matrix, there were many movies that tried to capitalize on the popularity of the film. One can't really blame them for trying, but the 360 rotation shots and bullet-time effects became cultural clichés faster than you can say "Neo". Granted, The Matrix is one of my all-time favorite movies and its impact on filmmaking cannot be denied. With that established, Equilibrium is one movie that still begs (and even welcomes) this comparison.Take the main character John Preston (played by Christian Bale), for example. He is not unlike the stoic Neo of The Matrix. The only difference being that it's actually written into the story of Equilibrium (more on that in a second). Preston doesn't have sidekick characters as memorable as Morpheus though.
So let's get down to the plot. The movie is about a utopian (but Fascist) future in which it is illegal to feel, and a drug, Prozium, is distributed to every living person. Prozium, of course, has the effect of numbing all emotion. All literature, music, and art are prohibited and thereby eliminated, consequently suppressing humanly emotions. As result, the future world is free of war and conflict.
Cleric Preston enforces the law, helping to weed out extraneous items from people's homes. However, in his many encounters with people who resist the law, he becomes curious. What would it be like to live without Prozium? What he finds is rather extraordinary. Suddenly he cares for so-called criminals, those being executed for their treason, and even animals.
The action scenes in Equilibrium are very reminiscent of The Matrix. In spite of the similarities, all told, this movie still does pretty well at the execution stage. It's entertaining, but it's hard to watch it without thinking of The Matrix.
As for the storyline, I found it to be somewhat similar to Gattaca (another decent film). Gattaca certainly did not have the action elements found here, but it did have similar dramatic impact.
All in all, it's a movie worth watching. I don't know if I would equate it to the Matrix in terms of overall impact, but it's entertaining no less.
