The Equalizer (2014)
Certified: 15
Duration: 131 minutes
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Alex Veadov, Vladimir Kulich
KRS Releasing Ltd

Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a very normal-looking man who works at a hardware store. He likes to help others but keeps a low profile and would rather not get into any situation that would get him noticed. Currently, he is helping fellow worker Ralphie (Johnny Skourtis) get into shape in order to get a job as a security guard.

Robert spends most of his time at a diner where he often meets Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), a very young prostitute who wants to become a singer but she is not going anywhere especially since she is controlled by her pimp Slavi (David Meunier).

Robert decides to intervene when he sees how Slavi treats Teri and asks him to buy her in order to free her. Predictably enough, Slavi does not accept and in a number of seconds, Robert sizes up the situation and proceeds to do a number on Slavi and the goons in his band. What Slavi does not know is that Robert is a retired ex-CIA officer. This intervention leaves a ripple effect as Slavi’s Russian Mob boss sends his killer Teddy (Marton Csokas) to carry out a clean-up affair.

This thriller takes its time to build up its premise and characters, but it is a pleasure to watch them develop

This foreign intervention does not sit well with the Russian’s Mob forces stationed in the US and the likes of Frank Masters (David Harbour), a corrupt cop who has to let Teddy do his work. The latter starts leaving a pile of bodies in his wake and Robert knows that his days out of the limelight may be soon over.

This adaptation of the television series that aired on CBS from 1985 to 1989 sees Washington in his Man on Fire (2004) mode, meting out punishment and justice in a cinematic manner. His re-teaming with Antoine Fuqua, with whom he worked on the excellent Training Day, is an exercise in hyper-violent stylish action and violence that seeps off the screen with feverish aplomb.

It seems that Fuqua has gone for a reinterpretation of the series and delivers a punchy film that only shares its title, structure and premise with the original series. This thriller takes its time to build up its premise and characters, but it is a pleasure to watch them develop frame after frame. Fuqua knows how to pile up the pressure and he does it expertly.

Washington delivers a very languid performance but his presence is very strong and imposing. And it’s evident that he can simply explode once his fuse is lit. We know that his character is right and that his brand of justice (vigilantism) may not be socially acceptable but it’s very difficult not to be caught up in the movie’s delivery of ‘cool’.

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