The Equalizer

Starring: Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Thriller
2014

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Denzel Washington) who has put his violent past behind him tries to maintain a quiet life in Boston. When an acquaintance (Chloe Grace Moretz) is brutalized by a Russian gang, he reluctantly decides he has to get involved.

Review:

Tim: Maybe I'm just a sucker, but I really like the vast majority of Denzel Washington's movies. He is certainly getting older, but his films aren't suffering as a result. This is yet another solid Washington effort. I never watched "The Equalizer" television show, so I knew only a few scant details about the story. I believe the cinematic version worked really well and I'm kind of interested to see if they pursue a sequel (which I believe would be the first of Washington's career). While this movie doesn't reach the heights of some of Washington's other films, it's still an entertaining action film.

The role is perfect for Denzel. Robert is this mysterious character- I actually liked that we don't find out much about his past. However, from his behavior and mannerisms, it quickly becomes apparent that he has either special forces military or some type of similar background. This is a guy who has done bad things in the past and is trying to salvage some kind of life. Washington does a great job of conveying both that world weary weight on his shoulders, as well as the hope and optimism that he can still do some good in this dark world. It's a role tailor made for Washington and he's a talented enough actor to deliver a strong performance. I liked that this role gave Washington a chance to act (his scenes with Chloe Grace Moretz are a great example), but it also allowed him to shift into full-on action mode, something Washington has tons of experience in and excels at. The movie is mostly about Washington and that's not a bad thing.

He does have a solid supporting cast around him. I like Chloe Grace Moretz and was excited she would share some screen time with Washington. She disappears for long stretches of the movie, which was mildly disappointing. I wish she had more screen time and more to do. She's good in her scenes, though. I also have to give Marton Csokas credit for giving one of the best villain portrays in recent memory. The guy is a horrible person and Csokas puts the evil, merciless qualities right on display for the world to see. He's a formidable villain and acts as the perfect foil for Washington's character. This movie wouldn't have been nearly as strong without Csokas in his role. The other supporting actors are all fairly good, although I thought it was weird to see Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman for only a couple of scenes. Their talent was wasted on very low-impact roles. I scratched my head a bit at that one- maybe their other scenes got left on the cutting room floor? I'm not sure.

Director Antoine Fuqua knows his way around an action movie and he leverages that experience and his familiarity of working with Washington to tell a strong story. However, the movie isn't without his flaws. I thought the slowdown scenes of Washington thinking through his battles weren't nearly as effective as they could have been. Other movies have used this to far greater extent (Sherlock Holmes, for example). It felt like this movie just borrowed that idea and didn't execute nearly as well. I also thought the climax was quite disappointing. You have these incredibly bad ass characters who fight in basically a Home Depot. I have no idea why Washington's character went to such lengths to MacGyver these complex ways to kill people when ordinary ways would be far more effective. It just didn't make sense. There was one scene at the end where he decides to embark on hand-to-hand combat with a guy who far outweighed him and had him by height as well. He could have easily shot the guy in the head, but goes into this absurd battle (while all the other bad guys conveniently wait for him to finish before showing up). Fuqua completely missed the mark on those scenes.

While flawed, I still really enjoyed The Equalizer. It was an opportunity for Washington to do what he does best and the movie did deliver some thrilling moments. I also enjoyed the quieter moments with the character, like why he was always reading classics. Plus, the movie was filmed in Boston, which was great fun to me to see. This movie could have been better, but it's an entertaining movie and I'm interested to see if we'll get a sequel.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5


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