Equilibrium – Sense Offender

Equilibrium centers on post-World War III society, Libria, where emotions have been outlawed. Daily, citizens must take scheduled injections of Prozium II to ensure they don't begin to feel. Violators are handled with prejudice. If that sounds familiar, it should. Equilibrium, despite a few nifty action scenes, is highly derivative of better dystopian fiction. One of its few innovations—enforcement agents trained in the art of gun kata known as the Grammaton Clerics—are just wannabe Neo clones. Oh, and as you'll hear on the pod, gun kata is really goddamn stupid. A backyard creation of Equilibrium's director, Kurt Wimmer, gun kata is the equivalent of the old Star Wars kid YouTube video. As in, it may have looked cool in his head, but he probably should've thought better than to film people doing it. Now, sit back, curb your emotions with a Third Eye PA from Third Eye Brewing, and don't forget your morning dose! I, the Thunderous Wizard (@WriterTLK), Bling Blake, and Chumpzilla are ridding the world of contraband, one Da Vinci painting at a time! This Week’s Segments: Introduction/Plot Breakdown – In a future where freedom is outlawed, outlaws will become heroes! (0:00) Lingering Questions – On a graded scale—F to A—how would we assess the final action scene? (51:28) The "Prozium II" Trivia Challenge – Bling Blake challenges the field to trivia about the movie. (1:09:19) Recommendations – We offer our picks for the week and next up: We conclude Dystopian Flops with one of 2024's biggest bombs, Boy Kills World! (1:23:24) And, as always, hit us up on Threads, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram to check out all the interesting factoids from this week’s episode! You can find this episode of Hops and Box Office Flops on all your favorite pod catchers!