THE EQUALIZER 2:
DENZEL IS BACK IN THIS
THRILLING YET QUESTIONABLE SEQUEL!
By Nico
Beland
Movie
Review: ** ½ out of 4
COLUMBIA
PICTURES
Denzel
Washington returns in The Equalizer 2
Denzel Washington (Glory, Training Day, Flight)
reunites with director, Antoine Fuqua (Training
Day, Shooter, The Magnificent Seven (2016)) in the
sequel to the 2014 action hit, The
Equalizer, based on the TV series of the same name. I’ve never seen the
show but as a standalone movie, the first film was perfectly decent, I’ve seen better,
but I’ve also seen worse, it’s a passable action thriller with plenty of Denzel
kicking some ass.
Well, because movies can never be
self-contained anymore we got a sequel, The
Equalizer 2 with Washington reprising his role as former CIA agent, Robert
McCall. I was very skeptical going into it because while I thought the first
film was enjoyable it didn’t really leave an impression with me and that the
sequel would just be a watered-down copy of its predecessor.
Thankfully The Equalizer 2 doesn’t fall victim to rehashing the first film and
offers plenty of thrills and Denzel always shines every time he’s on-screen.
But it does suffer from a convoluted story, questionable existence, and predictable
plot twists.
The film follows Robert McCall
(Washington) living in an apartment complex in urban Massachusetts and working
as a Lyft driver and helping the less fortunate with his friend, Susan Plummer
(Melissa Leo-All My Children, Frozen River, The Fighter). When Susan is suddenly killed after a murder-suicide investigation
in Brussels, McCall must leave his peaceful life once again and put his old
skills back to good use and set out a path of revenge to find the man who
killed her and take him down.
The film also stars Pedro Pascal (The Good Wife, Game of Thrones, Kingsman:
The Golden Circle) as Dave York, Ashton Sanders (The Retrieval, Moonlight,
The Skinny) as Miles Whittaker, Bill
Pullman (Spaceballs, Sleepless in Seattle, Independence Day) as Brian Plummer,
Orson Bean (The Hobbit (1977), Being John Malkovich, How I Met Your Mother) as Sam
Rubinstein, Sakina Jaffrey (Raising Helen,
House of Cards, Red Sparrow) as Fatima, and Jonathan Scarfe (Madison, Slap Shot 2:
Breaking the Ice, Van Helsing (TV
series)) as Resnik.
Overall, The Equalizer 2 delivers exactly what it advertises, Denzel
Washington kicking ass and solving a murder mystery for two hours, nothing more
and nothing less. Though this movie is a milestone as the first time Denzel
Washington starred in a sequel to one of his films.
Despite being a repeated
performance, Denzel still gives it his all, he’s a tough badass who shoots,
breaks necks, and snaps wrists but he retains this collected persona and is
able to stay on-time even when a bunch of bad guys are trying to kill him. But
at the same time, he helps other people on the side and even allows his enemies
to do the right thing, which was something I really appreciated about the first
film and it wasn’t just a bloody slaughterhouse all the way through.
Denzel and the action sequences are
where the movie shines and they’re a lot of fun to watch, but the plot
structure is where this movie goes downhill. The first film had a lot going on
with its story but at least I was able to follow it okay, this one shifts tones
by starting off like a gritty Equalizer
movie as it should be but then it turns into a disaster movie, has plot
elements that don’t really go anywhere, and at times the film is predictable,
specifically with its final act.
I was able to catch on rather
quickly what was going to happen in the story and who would end up being the
villain, and a good chunk of the movie lived up to those expectations
unfortunately. The plot of this movie just isn’t that interesting and the more
time it’s being focused on the more I want the movie to cut to Denzel
harpooning someone in the neck.
On the plus side the plot detour
doesn’t feel like a huge waste of time because you know an action sequence is
on the way and when Denzel kicks ass it’s great. So yeah, it’s a mediocre story
with cool action sequences, an engaging Denzel Washington performance, and
strong chemistry between Washington and Sanders that’s almost like a father-son
relationship and is probably the most interesting part of the film’s plot.
If you enjoyed the first Equalizer then you’ll probably find
something to like about The Equalizer 2,
it isn’t bad and has some legitimately good moments but not quite enough to
make an impression. Aside from Denzel’s performance and the action sequences I’ll
probably forget about it in a day or two, generic, confusing, predictable, and
forgettable, that’s The Equalizer 2
for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment