I don't remember "Equilibrium" (2002) in the theaters, but prior to the screening of "Priest" it was suggested that I check it out by a fellow movie fan. I happened to notice it was playing on the SyFy channel just a couple days later, so I recorded it on my DVR with the intention of watching it over the long holiday weekend.
The film is yet another post apocalyptic society film where all forms of feeling are considered to be illegal. The film was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, who is better known as a writer than a director. He most recently worked on "Salt" (2010) and is working on the remake of "Total Recall" in 2012. The film is also one of many films that led to Christian Bale being offered the role of Batman from Christopher Nolan.
The film begins with the subtext "In the first years of the 21st Century a 3rd World War broke out and those of us who survived knew that mankind could never survive a 4th. That our own volatile natures could simply no longer be risked. A new arm of the law was created, The Grammaton Cleric, tasked with seeking out and eradicate the true source of man's inhumanity to man, his ability to feel."
The dichotomy of black vs white, or right/wrong, echo throughout the film. Most notably this is seen between Christian Bale and Taye Diggs. The symbolism continues through the use of martial arts and their clothing. Most movie fans will immediately draw comparisons to "the Matrix" (1999) as can be seen in many of the fight scenes. It had some tough competition in 2002 including Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Spider-Man, Catch Me If You Can, and Bourne Identity. So it isn't much of a surprise that this 3 Quack film was forgotten about. If you find it on SyFy and you don't have much else going on then you should certainly check it out.
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