The Equalizer Review

There was this brief trend in the first few years of the 21st century of revamping old TV shows for modern day films. Charlie's Angels started this phenomenon, and the likes of Starsky & Hutch, Miami Vice and The Dukes of Hazzard kept it going. It's slowed down in recent years, but the likes of Dark Shadows and 21 Jump Street show that Hollywood loves taking classic programs and revamping them as new movies. The Equalizer is the newest film adhering to this thought process, though even without watching any of the show, a quick glance to the original shows Wikipedia page confirms that this is less of an adaptation of that 80's TV show and more of a cinematic excuse for Denzel Washington to punch people.

Meet Robert McCall. He works at a Home Depot rip-off named Home Mart (which amusingly has both it's own aprons and it's own slogan), but soon becomes a sort of vigilante when innocent people like Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz) get hurt by Russian gangsters. Robert may have tendencies that fall under OCD , but he'll leave you DOA if you commit wrongdoing. All puns aside, there's not much to Robert personality-wise, he's sort of a generic good guy that can simultaneously help his pal exercise, but then punch a bad guys eyes out with a shot-glass.

Yeah, that kind of violence runs rampant in the film, and to be honest, it's kind of unsettling. The R-rating of this feature gives you a pretty good indicator of how bloody things get whenever Robert takes on his foes. While the people he's committing these violent acts against are truly despicable villains, it's still weird to see such graphic violence that has a tendency to be heightened dished out by the films protagonist in such a serious manner. It makes the whole affair hard to watch occasionally and by the time the dust settled, I felt Robert was less of a vigilante hero and more of a rampaging psychopath.

In a different movie, perhaps a character study could be done to look at vigilante justice and it's effects on those carrying it out, but The Equalizer has no time for anything other than quick violence and one-liners. It's at least good the movie spares us things like forced romantic subplots or overly complex storylines for a more simple storytelling structure, but even that comes with the flaw of making the film, like it's protagonist, sorely lack substance.

Speaking of that protagonist, he's played by none other than Denzel Washington, who fares OK. I didn't think he was outstanding or what have you, but he holds himself well in action scenes and does have an intimidating presence if the scene calls for it. The rest of the cast is really forgettable actually, especially in terms of the antagonists who are pretty much drawn-out stereotypes (foreign mobster, corrupt cop). Johnny Skourtis actually leaves the most of an  impression in the film in his lovable role as an employee at Home Mart, while Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman just sort of pop by in one scene. Pity that these two actors, as well as other crucial elements like a balanced tone or depth, aren't utilized more in The Equalizer, a not terrible, but also pretty forgettable action flick.