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Created Dec 08, 2007 02:17PM PST • Edited Dec 08, 2007 02:17PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Really Great 4.5

   I actually prefer this movie to The Matrix. Despite a lot of similarities, Equilibrium has a better connection to a real struggle mankind experiences. The Matrix had a bigger budget and better special effects, but Equilibrium has a better cast and better story. Set in a post-World War 3 world, society has identified human emotions as the primary cause of harm in the world. A new world order has been established where everyone is obliged to use drugs to suppress all emotions and a special police force has been created to destroy “sense offenders” and anything that may stir emotions in people. But when the most elite enforcement officer John Preston (Christian Bale) misses a dose of his medication, he begins to feel, and sees that maybe the price of peace is too high.

4. Acting

   Really Great 4.5

   Bale is phenomenal, and for the limited time he is featured, Sean Bean gives an equally powerful performance as his partner. Angus Macfadyen is great as Dupont, the cold leader of the new world order, and Emily Watson supplies the film with the emotional roots the film needs early on. The only week point is Taye Diggs, who seems to forget his character is supposed to be emotionless and can’t help deliver his lines with the same self-satisfaction as a kid quoting his favorite action movie.

5. Male Stars Really Great 4.5

6. Female Stars Really Great 4.5

7. Female Costars Really Great 4.5

8. Male Costars Really Great 4.5

10. Film

    Great 4.0

    The special effects are little cheesy at times, certainly due to a lower budget, but the remainder of the film is solid throughout.

11. Direction Great 4.0

12. Play Great 4.0

13. Music Great 4.0

14. Visuals Great 4.0
15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 3.2

    No sex, no real foul language.The violence level is very comparable to that of the Matrix. Over-the-top action sequences with sci fi martial arts and large scale shootouts. Several people are show being executed by gunshot, while the most graphic moment comes when a character’s face is sliced off by a sword.

17. Sex Erotic 3.2

18. Violence Brutal 3.2

19. Rudeness Profane 3.2

21. Reality

    Glib 2.0

    Despite an attempt to scientifically explain the superhuman skills of the police force, the film pushes the realm of believability.

22. Circumstantial Glib 2.0

23. Biological Glib 2.0

24. Physical Glib 2.0