The Equaliser 2 Review.

The Equaliser 2

You’ve heard of Taxi Driver? Well it’s time for Lyft Driver.

Denzel Washington is one of the greatest actors of all time. Washington is a 9-time Oscar nominee and a two-time winner. A quick glimpse into his filmography will show you stellar films such as Training Day, Malcolm X, Flight, American Gangster and many more. But the one thing that Denzel has never done in his illustrious career is appearing in a sequel, until now. It’s crazy to think that after 40 years in the industry now is the time that he decides to make a follow up story on his previous work. So why choose The Equalizer? Now, I haven’t seen the original film since it came out so clearly, I wasn’t in hot demand for a sequel, but Denzel was! The original was Denzel’s attempt at a Liam Neeson Takenesque action movie. The film told a story of a retired mysterious man going back into action for the common good. The film was pretty fun! My Dad loved it and was constantly trying to get people to watch it for months after we seen it. Washington delivered a strong performance as he always does but the film stood out for its extreme action which was in a different league to normal ageing actor going all gun’s blazes. So, does The Equalizer 2 deliver the promise of another ass kicking Denzel adventure?

The film opens with a fun sequence on a train which shows Robert McCall (Washington) confronting a Turkish gang wearing a ludicrous fake beard. The opening was awesome, Denzel was threatening, the action was thrilling to watch, and I rubbed my hands together excited for a few more hours of this. But that’s not what happened unfortunately. The film jams it’s breaks immediately following the opening credits. Instead of getting the story going and keeping up the fast pace action scenes, we get half an hour of Denzel driving, eating and reading. The film is a glorified ad for Lyft, an alternative taxi company. So, we get to see how great Lyft is! McCall drives around all the happiest people in the world. He drives a friendly old man and talks to him about his sister, he drives a man going to his first day at his new job and he even drives a woman who just got accepted into college! Wow how wonderful, I’m never going on public transport again. Lyft is my life now! This really took me out of the film. The first film was a moderate success in the box office but it’s possible that director Antoine Fuqua needed the product placement money to tell his story, but it was so tedious that surely it must have been the only option.

The film kicks off around the half hour mark when someone McCall loves is targeted. We’ve seen how far he’ll go when a stranger is in danger but to see the lengths he’ll go to when it’s someone he loves, it’s very intriguing. From then on, it’s all about McCall’s mission and its an exciting one. The action comes fast from this point on. Director Antoine Fuqua and Washington have worked together previously on Training Day, The Magnificent Seven and the previous Equalizer movie. The pair have a great working relationship, every time they collaborate the film will always yield great action and this film is no different. The fight scenes are covered in gore in a way that bring brutality to every single fight Washington is in.  The fights are immense, making Washington look like a force to be reckoned with. There’s never a moment of doubt when these scenes arise that Washington couldn’t do this in real life. Unlike Neeson in the Taken sequels, Washington is a believable badass seeking revenge and not laughable. The climatic battle of the film is a standout moment. The fight lasts probably about twenty minutes, but it played out almost like a Call of Duty level. Fuqua deserves praise for bringing intensity to much of the film, I constantly felt that the major characters were in danger at times and that’s something that doesn’t happen all too often.

Let’s talk about the side characters in this movie. The standout is a troubled teen called Miles, played by Moonlights Ashton Sanders. McCall takes the teen under his wing and their relationship is a highlight. The script is a bit flimsy at times with the writing which sometimes made this story feel like a PSA. Thankfully the talents of Sanders and Washington are strong enough to shine through weak writing, making dialogue that would normally come off as cheesy come off better than it deserves. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for Susan (Melissa Leo) and Dave (Pedro Pascal) as two ties to McCall’s past. The actors try their best to make the most of their underwritten characters, but they are for the most part replaceable. It’s very predictable what direction their characters are always going. There’s a direction the film goes in the third act that was obvious throughout making the attempt to make the film emotionally dramatic fall flat. The screenplay was written by Richard Wenk who also wrote the script for two other action sequels, The Expendables 2 and Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, two films that weren’t exactly known for their dialogue. Wenk has just been announced to be writing a script for the upcoming Spiderman spinoff movie based on Kraven the Hunter, fingers crossed he fares better with character writing on that one.

Overall, The Equalizer 2 is a decent movie. The plot may be unnecessarily clunky, but the action is strong enough to pull everything together for an enjoyable time. Some may find it odd that Washington is making action movies which aren’t masterpieces, but I have no problem with it. The man hasn’t completely given up on dramatic roles, he gave a possibly career best performance in Fences last year. Washington deserves to be able to dabble into different genres especially after the career he’s had so far. If the action and performance is as good as it is here than I say bring on the threequaliser!

Best Moment: The fight at the climax of the film is brutal.

Worst Moment: it’s weird seeing Malcolm X give people rides on Lyft.

Best Character: McCall is a complex character who carries this series.

Worst character: Bill Pullmans performance is a character whose relationship with his wife, creepily comes across like a mother and son.

Overall Score: 3/5