The Equalizer 2 ** (2018, Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Melissa Leo) – Movie Review

Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in The Equalizer 2.

Like Denzel Washington’s character of retired CIA black ops agent Robert McCall, The Equalizer 2 is a nasty piece of work, violent and vengeful and sadistic. When they say McCall brings his unique, particularly violent brand of justice back to the streets to punish the guilty, what they mean is that he is one-man vigilante squad judge-and-jury serial killer.

Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua reunite for the sequel to The Equalizer. Those who relished the smash hit original will not be disappointed by the sequel. It is more of the same, possibly even a little bit slicker and sharper. The finale, staged in a storm, is quite brilliantly done. Fuqua is a good film director, clever and imaginative. He could entirely dispense with the CGI enhancements to keep his movie a bit more grounded and real, but otherwise he is a very good thriller director.

Unfortunately, Robert McCall and The Equalizer is just old Charlie Bronson and Death Wish in another guise. The Equalizer 2 takes the high moral ground, but it has no moral ground to stand on. Let us say it clearly, vigilantism is wrong, morally and legally. To make McCall a commendable hero is just not ethical or right. The audience cheered and clapped when McCall despatched the ‘bad guys’. The film invites this. Now that is not good, and it is not nice. The scary question then is, how far will he go? Remind me again, why is this character a hero?

It adds one element to the Death Wish bloodlust. That is a sadistic sense of humour, with McCall happy to taunt, hurt and torture the ‘bad guys’ before he kills them. McCall is taking a page out of Taxi Driver‘s book. He is an Uber-style driver, touring around the man streets of Boston, judging and jurying everybody, just like Travis Bickle before him. How very Seventies retro of them, mixing Death Wish with Taxi Driver. How witty and clever! The Chloë Grace Moretz character of young prostitute in the 2014  The Equalizer is of course just Jody Foster updated. Just to remind you, The Equalizer is based on the Edward Woodward TV series of 1985-89. How very Eighties retro of them!

Simply judged as a thriller, The Equalizer 2 is well made, decently plotted, and exciting. It is as slick as they come. This time McCall befriends an African American boy, Miles (Ashton Sanders), rather than Chloë Grace Moretz, which gives off a very different vibe. He gleefully endangers the kid’s life, but, along with vigilantism, that’s okay too apparently. Melissa Leo returns as Susan Plummer, and she is the classiest act in the movie, though it unfortunately turns out that it isn’t about her.

It is all about Denzel Washington and McCall. They are not very nice company here. Washington looks desperately grim and then grimmer, that is about the entire sum of his acting. It would be good if the 63-year-old Denzel Washington were making classier, less crowd-pleasing movies.

It is rated R for brutal violence throughout, strong language, and some drug content.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Movie Review

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