If you love the dystopian science-fiction themes in “The Matrix” films and the precise style of “John Wick” action fights, then you should check out an early 2000’s Christian Bale movie that went under the radar at the time. Called “Equilibrium”, it also stars Sean Bean, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson, Dominic Purcell and William Fichtner. You can watch it right now on Paramount+ or any of its subsequent channels, like Paramount+ on Prime Video or Paramount+ on Roku.
The movie’s setting is interesting and prescient for current events. Essentially, it occurs in an oppressive fascist society in the future where all forms of emotion and feeling are illegal. The totalitarian regime enforces this law via a drug that subdues all emotions when ingested. The residents must take it, or they’re punished and sentenced to death. Bale’s character, John Preston, is an auditor, called a Cleric, who helps enforce the law. Through his experiences, he comes to realize the lawful way may not always be the best way to live, and Bale’s turn is on point — phenomenal acting, in my opinion. Coincidentally, Bale also stars in one of the more interesting upcoming sci-fi movies, “The Bride”, with parallels to “Frankenstein”, if you want to catch his acting talents on the big screen.
Integral to “Equilibrium’s” action is the concept of Gun Kata, the fluid weapon style employed by the clerics. They move as one with their guns, as a sort of gun fu mastery not unlike Neo in “The Matrix.” It’s something to behold.
What’s most striking about the film is that when it was released, it was divisive, and that’s reflected in its Rotten Tomatoes scores. Critics panned the movie, doling out a 39% score, while movie-lovers have been more forgiving, resulting in its 81% rating.
What are reviewers saying about Equilibrium today?
This isn’t the first movie to see poor reviews and unfavorable reception, only to be appreciated much later by audiences. Channing Tatum’s 2025 crime movie “Roofman” absolutely took over Paramount+ for a while, despite audiences ignoring it in the theaters. Another 2025 box office bomb starring Andrew Garfield, called “After the Hunt”, also saw a resurgence on Prime Video when it started streaming. Of course, “Equilibrium” came out more than 20 years ago at this point, so it has had a lot more time to win audiences over.
The 81% user rating on Rotten Tomatoes isn’t the only positive indicator. Bale’s “Equilibrium” also has a 7.3 out of 10 rating on IMDB with over 361,000 reviews. Reviewers say the movie has stood the test of time, albeit judged too early, and is a clear example of why critic reviews and audience reviews are so different. It’s beautiful, sad, and relevant, and a film that “everyone needs to see.” Some of the dissenters mention it’s boring or slow in parts. Others talk about it being unoriginal, derivative, and too similar, of course, alluding to “The Matrix” films. Further still, there are claims that it borrows too much source material from other properties like “Fahrenheit 451”, “1984”, and “Citizen Kane.”
I say give it a watch, allow yourself to be immersed in the experience and see what happens. It has a runtime of one hour and 47 minutes, which, compared to movies like the “Avatar” series, isn’t too long considering. Besides, you might like it if only for the Gun Kata.
