Equilibrium
Miramax Films | Release Date: December 6, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
33
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
8
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Would be a mindless action picture, except that it has a mind. It doesn't do a lot of deep thinking, but unlike many futuristic combos of sf and f/x, it does make a statement: Read full review
70
The A.V. ClubNathan Rabin
A terrific cast, stylish direction, and elegantly choreographed mayhem help make it far better than it might have been -- Though ultimately silly, Equilibrium's shopworn but stylish synthesis of ammo and ideas is surprisingly engrossing. Read full review
70
L.A. WeeklyRon Stringer
The fun here is not so much in the solid if stolid performances from Bale and co-stars Taye Diggs and Emily Watson (gussied up to resemble the Jefferson Airplane–era Grace Slick) or in Wimmer's overpolished plot devices as it is in the production values. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
The martial-arts sequences take this prosaic thriller to a higher level. Read full review
60
Dallas ObserverGregory Weinkauf
Equilibrium improves as it rolls along -- either that or, ironically, it wears down the senses until the viewer succumbs. Read full review
50
New York PostJonathan Foreman
The best thing about Equilibrium is its impressive look. Along with its generally fine cast and some well-choreographed fights, that goes a long way to making the movie watchable -- despite its underlying stupidity. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerSean Axmaker
A preachy parable stylized with a touch of John Woo bullet ballet. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJami Bernard
Mostly plays like a routine thriller with a classy cast. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
Not a picture that makes you think very much -- except to wonder why the studios keep making movies like this. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'Sullivan
Just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it's easy to do well. Screenwriter-turned-director Kurt Wimmer has a hard time keeping his actors from, well, acting a lot of the time. Read full review
40
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
This operates at the intellectual level of the old "Star Trek" in its limp last season, and the professed humanism is belied by the extreme violence and Nazi-chic production design (not to mention a voice-over that traces the outlawing of emotion to "the revolutionary precept of the hate crime"). Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
Flashy, "MATRIX"-style action sequences trump ideas; it's hard not to feel you've just watched a feature-length video game with some really heavy back story. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's not only an ultraviolent, ludicrously inconsistent rip-off of Bradbury's idea, but it poisons the well for future efforts. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Equilibrium just happens to be a really bad comic book. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesManohla Dargis
An accidental entertainment, Equilibrium is a science-fiction pastiche so lacking in originality that if you stripped away its inspirations there would be precious little left. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Super- violent, super-serious and super-stupid. Read full review
25
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Equilibrium doesn't tread softly on our dreams; it tramples them. Read full review
20
VarietyDennis Harvey
Misses with its blowhard treatment of a silly, obvious script. Results might hazard "Battlefield Earth" comparison if new pic were a tad more fun. Read full review
20
Film ThreatDavid Grove
Since Equilibrium shamelessly rips off every Orwellian science fiction thriller in film history, what other reason is there besides sheer desperation for the film to be so stupidly violent? Read full review
10
Washington PostStephen Hunter
Equilibrium is like a remake of "1984" by someone who's seen "The Matrix" 25 times while eating Twinkies and doing methamphetamines. Read full review
10
Village VoiceDennis Lim
As this clueless, bulimic debacle madly regurgitates ideas and iconography from Lang to the brothers Wachowski, Leni Riefenstahl to L. Ron Hubbard, Ray Bradbury to Susan Faludi, it's not just Bale who has a hard time keeping a straight face. Read full review
0
The New York TimesElvis Mitchell
If someone left "1984," "Fahrenheit 451," "Brave New World," "Gattaca" and the Sylvester Stallone potboilers "Judge Dredd" and "Demolition Man" out in the sun and threw the runny glop onto a movie screen, it would still be a better picture than Equilibrium, a movie that could be stupider only if it were longer. Read full review
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