The Equalizer (2014) Columbia/Action-Thriller RT: 131 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence and language throughout, some sexual references) Director: Antoine Fuqua Screenplay: Richard Wenk Music: Harry Gregson-Williams Cinematography: Mauro Fiore Release date: September 26, 2014 (US) Cast: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Alex Veadov, Vladimir Kulich. Box Office: $101.5M (US)/$192.3M (World)
Rating: ***
Even the most hardcore action fan will have to agree that The Equalizer is pretty bad ass. I’m always skeptical of film adaptations of old TV shows, but the makers do a good job taking the 80s TV show and turning it into a contemporary kick-ass action flick. Denzel Washington (Training Day) steps into the role once inhabited by English-born actor Edward Woodward. It’s a good fit.
The character, who goes by the name Robert McCall, is an ex-government agent living a quiet life of solitude and routine. He wakes up every morning and goes to work at a Home Depot-like store. At night, he sleeps a few hours then heads to the same diner around the corner with book in hand. Taciturn by nature, he feels guilt over his past sins and looks to atone for them by helping those in need of justice. Be it corrupt cops shaking down small business owners or some punk hold-up kid, McCall has no problem “equalizing” things.
I’ve never seen a single episode of the original series which ran for four seasons, so I can’t make a comparison between it and the movie version of The Equalizer. I can say that I really dig the film though. Director Antoine Fuqua, reuniting with his Training Day star Washington, relocates the story to Boston (from New York) and infuses the film with a noirish sensibility.
The story has McCall taking on the Russian Mafia after the brutal assault of an acquaintance, a teenage prostitute named Teri (Moretz, Kick-Ass). They frequent the same diner each night and converse about whatever book he’s reading that night. Her boss Slavi (Meunier) puts her in ICU which prompts an angry McCall to pay him and his henchmen a visit at his office. After sizing things up and calculating his opponents’ moves, McCall kills all five of them in less than 30 seconds. When word reaches the head guy in Moscow, he sends an equalizer of his own, Teddy (Csokas, Sin City: A Dame to Kill For), to deal with the matter.
This particular avenger may not have super powers, but he’s deadly with the tools he sells (e.g. power drill, tree saw and sledge hammer). The Equalizer is very violent and bloody which suits me just fine. McCall dispenses the kind of justice that would get cops booted off the force and into a psych ward. The film has plenty of action and not the noisy, cluttered kind found in a Jerry Bruckheimer production. It takes its time building up to the cool scenes, but once it gets there, it’s totally worth the wait.
It’s a tough and stylish movie that benefits from a strong leading performance by Washington, an actor of gravitas and cool. However, The Equalizer isn’t a perfect movie. It has flaws. Moretz is sadly underused. The subplot about McCool helping a portly co-worker get in shape is fairly hokey. Yet I didn’t really mind. It seems like Fuqua put forth real effort with this one. Instead of simply redoing the original show, he made it his own while sticking close enough to its source to please fans.
The Equalizer is as solid and satisfying an action flick as I’ve seen in a while. I see definite franchise potential with this one. It’s the kind of flick where you cheer when the hero takes out bad guys several at a time. In other words, this movie is cool!
