Equilibrium 2002

Critics score:
38 / 100

Reviews provided by RottenTomatoes

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: It's a long way from Orwell's dark, intelligent warning cry [1984] to the empty stud knockabout of Equilibrium, and what once was conviction is now affectation. Read more

Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press: If there was a solitary new idea or actual emotion in Equilibrium, the Prozium must have rendered me oblivious. Read more

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper: Equilibrium is equal parts video game and GQ fashion spread. Read more

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: The characters act like robots, and the story unfolds like a computer program. Read more

Elvis Mitchell, New York Times: A movie that could be stupider only if it were longer. Read more

Manohla Dargis, Los Angeles Times: A science-fiction pastiche so lacking in originality that if you stripped away its inspirations there would be precious little left. Read more

Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle: Giggling at the absurdities and inconsistencies is part of the fun. But the talented cast alone will keep you watching, as will the fight scenes. Read more

Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly: Matrixian, Orwellian, and boneheadian. Read more

Gary Dowell, Dallas Morning News: What it lacks in originality it makes up for in intelligence and B-grade stylishness. Read more

Ron Stringer, L.A. Weekly: The fun here is not so much in the solid if stolid performances from Bale and co-stars Taye Diggs and Emily Watson ... or in Wimmer's overpolished plot devices as it is in the production values. Read more

Jan Stuart, Newsday: Dour and charmless. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It doesn't do a lot of deep thinking, but unlike many futuristic combos of sf and f/x, it does make a statement: Freedom of opinion is a threat to totalitarian systems. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: It's super- violent, super-serious and super-stupid. Read more

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read more

Time Out: Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A moderately entertaining cautionary tale. Read more

Dennis Harvey, Variety: An unsophisticated sci-fi drama that takes itself all too seriously. Read more

Dennis Lim, Village Voice: Unapologetic landslide of steaming balderdash. Read more

Michael O'Sullivan, Washington Post: Just because it's a good idea doesn't mean it's easy to do well. Read more

Stephen Hunter, Washington Post: Equilibrium the movie, as opposed to the manifesto, is really, really stupid. Read more