For those of you who don't know or need a quick refresher, The Equalizer was an action-oriented TV show from the 1980s that ran for four seasons. It started the late Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a retired intelligence agent turned private detective who found a new purpose in helping the disenfranchised. Then, in 2014, Sony Pictures released an updated version of the idea starring Denzel Washington as McCall and placed under the direction of Antoine Fuqua, late of Tears of the Sun and Shooter. It was a decent action film with Denzel delivering his usual professional quality of screen presence and served as a significant step forward for encouraging studios to make more effort to cast non-white actors in lead action roles. What kept the first movie from being truly and universally great, at least to me, was the ambient amount of gratuitous violence. It wasn't so much the style I had a problem with, but rather the overabundance of it. The majority of the first films running time was spent showcasing how many ways McCall could rip up a human body. Because of this, the film, though still entertaining in its wan way, didn't have much else going for it, and thus faded away into obscurity. Now, four years later, Sony has hit the Summer Blockbuster season with a sequel. Which, to my delightful surprise, is actually better than the first one.
Taking place a few years after the first film the story once again follows McCall (Denzel Washington) living his life juggling between his day job, reading his books, and secretly helping those in need just because he can, and because it's the right thing to do. Think of him as having Batman's skill and talent but with Captain America's convictions. Anyway, all seems well & good until someone murders McCall's good friend and former agency handler Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo). Seeing justice, McCall takes it upon himself to solve her murder and take down the perpetrators. However, his quest will lead him down a darker path then he could have ever anticipated, which will cause him to question his own convictions and his friendships.
What I like best about this movie is that, despite being a sequel, it doesn't really feel like one. The story and characters are presented in such a way that it could very well be its own good movie. While it does have the right amount of action and violence, not only is there significantly less of it here when compared to the first film, but it spends so much more time developing the characters and setting up the steaks, that once the action starts, it becomes more engaging. You learn more about McCall as a character as well as the people he eventually goes up against, creating a narrative that is both clever and insightful. You could argue that this started out as an original script and was reworked into a sequel for Sony's property merely to make the film more marketable. Normally I would scoff at that notion, but if it means getting scripts as good as this one, then I'm all for it.
As expected, Denzel Washington carries the movie. His cool and humble deminer makes every enemy take down so much more enthralling. From the first few minutes you see him on screen, you know exactly what kind of a guy he is, what he's willing to do, and how far he's ready to go. No deed is too risky or too challenging.
While I would not go so far as to declare this the best film of the year, I had a great time watching it, and I would be entirely down for seeing more installments of this franchise. Provided that both Denzel and director Antone Fuqua were up for making them.
Is this movie worth seeing?
Yes.
Is it worth seeing in theaters?
Yes.
Why?
It's an entertaining and at times thought-provoking heck of a good time at the movies. A rare achievement for a sequel.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, Thank you for reading.
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