The Equalizer, 2014.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Starring Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas, David Meunier, Bill Pullman, Haley Bennett, Melissa Leo, David Harbour and Robert Wahlberg.
SYNOPSIS:
A man believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and has dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her.
Superhero movies still currently pack quite the mainstream appeal punch, and in many ways you can make a case that The Equalizer belongs on that list. It is also the interesting parallels to superhero films that make The Equalizer feel like something more than a shockingly graphic action movie where Denzel Washington takes vengeance upon every criminal in sight. Now Robert McCall obviously doesn’t have any traditional super-powers, but he does have a special forces background of sorts that has transformed him into one of the deadliest, coldest, and most methodical killers walking the face of the Earth. Robert uses this gift for good though, labeling himself as The Equalizer; a man willing to weed out the scum of the world for the common citizen.
Like most super-powers, this is both a gift and a curse for Robert, as he has made a promise to his deceased wife that he would never go back to being that person, despite the fact that he is helping people. The Equalizer makes interesting suggestion that in some cases, violence is the only answer and the only solution to a problem. That might be something people may not want to accept, but once Robert decides he has had enough of witnessing his new prostitute friend be abused by gangsters, her life certainly takes a turn for the upside. Somewhere within Robert is a morally conflicted man struggling to not become a monster, but who said every monster has to be evil?
By the sounds of how much of a brutal combat expert Robert is you would think he is clinically insane, but that is far from the truth. Drawing more superhero parallels, Robert is a kind-hearted man that seemingly goes out of the way to help anyone regardless of the issue. There are scenes of him trying to motivate and help his overweight friend make the cut for a security guard position, and it’s a fascinating juxtaposition to the perceived psychopath we see killing people with screwdrivers. Essentially, Robert isn’t here to help citizens just with violence, but in the most mundane of ways too.
Of course none of this would work if Denzel Washington’s performance wasn’t spot on and completely gripping. Movie-goers surely get the sense that this man is fully desensitized to killing as he stares blankly into the eyes of a man he had just hung by barbed wire. When he’s not out taking lives though, he is in a jolly mood and a completely normal member of society. You certainly wouldn’t expect them to be The Equalizer.
While Denzel Washington does his all to make Robert McCall’s characterization worth the price of admission alone, unfortunately many of the villains fall flat. They are your stereotypical Russian mobsters and don’t really have anything distinct about them. It also feels like there are one too many villains when you take the body count for the film into account, along with the fact that the only villain with some memorable scenes is the leader, Teddy. Martin Csokas somewhat hams it up here and chews the scenery whenever the film calls for him to express a little violence. Ultimately though, he isn’t the kind of villain you will be hating for the entire movie, routing to die.
The length of the film is also definitely a bit of a problem, as during the middle there are long stretches where nothing really happens. When Denzel Washington is on the screen things are usually pretty entertaining, but because once again the villains aren’t that well-written, we often find ourselves not caring whenever they are eating up running time. In all honesty, if around 20 minutes were cut from the middle the pacing of the film would quicken, masking the fact that the villains are pretty one-note and cliché. The film also has quite a few scenes that jump the shark for no real reason; most notably is a scene where Robert blows up a tanker. He isn’t shown sneaking around or doing anything, just blowing up the tanker and walking away. A little more refinement and keeping the movie grounded in reality would have been nice, considering the movie wants to be taken seriously.
It is also pretty odd that Chloe Grace Moretz’s prostitute character disappears for essentially the entire movie after serving as a gateway for Robert to get back into the game, but it worked out in the end for one reason: the final standoff. Without giving away too much, there is an awesome sequence towards the end of the film where Robert basically turns into a crazed serial killer from a horror slasher film, picking off his enemies one by one set to a hauntingly fitting licensed song, and one of the reasons it is so effective is because it avoids the cliché of trying to save the damsel in distress. Instead the scene is Robert embracing what he is in one of the greatest scenes in all of 2014. The scene isn’t going to win any awards, but it is Denzel Washington at the most badass he has ever been in his entire career.
The Equalizer is also based off of a television show from the 80s, although this adaptation is apparently different in some ways. The point however is that there is potential to turn this into a profitable franchise, and I for one hope that happens because The Equalizer is one of the most interesting killers to analyze in recent memory. Maybe they’ll also write some better villains for him to go up against in the sequel.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Robert Kojder – An aficionado of film, wrestling, and gaming. He currently writes for Flickering Myth, We Got This Covered, and Wrestle Enigma. Follow me on Twitter.
Originally published September 27, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
