GUN-KATA!!!
I do not know how I missed this movie, talk about flying in under the radar. It is very well done with oustanding visuals and some great acting by Christian Bale. For those that keep referring to this film as a Matrix rip off it needs to stop. If everyone walking around in trench coats is considered Matrix like then there are quite a few movies to add to the list.

The story starts full speed with the movie that plagues the people of their emotions a brainwash if you will coupled with a drug taken periodically to tranquilize you emotions. Then moves quickly to the task force that disposes of "sense offenders", basically people that have feeings. The society the task force is trying to preserve is one of no emotion. This no emotion society is supposed to be a cure for anger, hatred, grief, sadness, sorrow etc. all the thing that caused the WWIII that these people survived. Through the processing(killing) of the sense offenders you get to see a very unique gun visual. The technique is called "gun-kata" and it is a fighting style that maximizes movement and angles to interpret your assailants moves as well as giving optimum angle for your attack to inflict the most possible damage. See it once and you will definitely think that is the coolest thing ever. After the awe factor of "gun-kata" wears off our lead Bale forgets to take some of his tranquilizer and soon starts feeling emotion again. He continues down this path of feeling and soon leads a revolution. I won't throw in spoilers because I want everyone to see the film and find out the outcome.

Outstanding movie, perfect fit for Bale and full of action with a mind provoking story line as well. Highly recommended for fans of darker sci fi settings and anyone who likes John Woo action films, because it is full of two pistol firing mayhem. A must see for Bale fans he is phenomenal in this performance.

Overlooked great film
I am so glad I decided to take heed to all the 5 star ratings for this film I had never even heard of before and go ahead and rent it. This was a truly fantastic action movie. Bale is a very good actor and I like the projects he selects. I wish this film had gotten more notice. I would like to see more films like this come out, action sci-fi with a message about humanity. Don't dumb it down, producers. This is the way to go, if only it can be better promoted so people find out just how great such movies really are.

Not Terrible as Some Critics TELL YOU to believe
It's been a couple of months since I saw this. My wife and I thought it was pretty good. The premise is good, the concept doesn't fall down anywhere. It was kind of like The Matrix meets Terry Gillam kind of thing if you know what I mean. Actually, the film was of a more intelligent nature than The Matrix. suggestion: rent it before you buy it.

Beautiful Violence
This masterpiece by Kurt Wimmer is a visual treat - a dance macabre, a vicious delight, and a critique of antidepressants. Never has violence been so graceful. Totally original, yet with homage to Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Lang's "Metropolis." Christian Bale is subtle in portraying both control and loss of control, each emotion a careful part of the narrative, he grows in depth as each painful experience of emotion is peeled back from the drug-induced onion-skin. There is nothing over the top with this layering, this cleric/assassin grows in character and depth. The song "What Have They Done to Me" by Visage (The Anvil) could be the soundtrack here, or just about anything by "Sisters of Mercy." Sean Bean is always excellent, as is Emily Watson. As an aside, never has a puppy looked so lovable. This movie haunts the past and suggests a possible future. Wake up. Take off your gloves. Feel life. As with true Sci-Fi, moral questions are framed within new technologies, our choices as human beings are further stretched by each innovation, perhaps to breaking point. Is this the future, is it the past? In an almost recognizable, unfamiliar environment, the elements that consist of a soul, of a society, are confronted, making "Equilibrium" both futuristic and ancient in its concerns. You also might enjoy the "Riddick" and "Underworld/Evolution" films.

A brilliant, dystopian science fiction movie
At the dawn of the 21st century, society was faced with a great Third World War, and knowing that something had to be done to prevent further problems, humanity was faced with the dilemma of solving all of man's troublels. As a result, they created a new enforcer of the law, the Grammaton Clerics, a collection of warriors who practice gun kata to improve their lethality while executing their sole task of eradicating any instance of feeling within humanity.

To control the general public, daily dosage of Prozium are self-administered, similar to the daily dosages of Soma in Brave New World, except this opiate of the masses elimites melancholy, rage, hate, and jealousy, as well as the suppressing positive feelings of pathos, joy, and love. Similarly, destruction of all that creates feeling, literature, art, all that gives us emotion, just like the firemen in Fahrenheit 451. Large-scale indoctrination is accomplished through the visualized, Apple commerical-esque, Big Brother screens of 1984 (used later in V for Vendetta). The combination of the three classic dystopian tales is flawless, each blending into the other, and the collective producing realism and fear for what could easily be a not-so-distant future.

Two Grammaton Clerics, John Preston (Christian Bale) and Errol Partridge (Sean Bean), have worked together to "protect" society. However, Errol has been confiscating sense offender material. Eventually, John catches Errol because he had been sneaking outside of the city to commit sense crimes. When he is eventually uncovered face-to-face, John must bring his partner in for justice. His partner would rather die than be captured or give up feeling, and in a final act of defiance he quotes a passage from his book and raises his book to cover his eyes.

Partridge's final words would later haunt John in a dream, as they serve as the catalyst for his finaly memory of his wife, the moment of her sense crime incarceration and eventual incineration, and he remembers with horror his still, emotionless inaction.

The following morning John drops his dosage of Prozium. His sone recommends a trip to Equilibrium for a replacement dosage. Only, John doesn't go, and he begins to feel, to sense and perceive all the wonderful feelings previously unknown. Soon, he enjoys the touch of an intricately designed vase, cries at the sound of Beethoven, and risks everything by protecting a puppy from extermination.

The gun battles are equisitely designed and choreographed, a little Matrix crossed with a little Jet Li action. Christian Bale delivers an impressive performance as a man who is initially wooden, and later severely troubled by his actions.

Eventually John must face the battle between his logic and his emotions, his allegiance and his freedom, as he comes to terms with what he has done, what he has become, and what he wishes for the future.