Times have certainly changed for The Equalizer. In this violent action flick, the title character isn’t even what you might classify as an “equalizer.” A more appropriate description might have been The Eliminator… or perhaps The Escalation-Guy. All covert investigations are thrown out the window in this reboot. Instead, the protagonist opts to simply wipe out his foes. The result is a pulpy and amusing enough vigilante flick that will only please if the brain is completely shut off.
On the surface, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a soft-spoken man living a quiet life as an employee at a hardware chain store. However, he hides a mysterious past that bubbles to the surface after he befriends a local teenage prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz). When the youngster is hospitalized after taking a beating from her Russian underworld bosses, McCall decides to take matters into his own hands. Blood is spilled. Of course, this incurs the wrath of the organization’s Moscow-based kingpin, who sends an assassin named Teddy (Marton Csokas) to eliminate the threat.
McCall doesn’t devise an elaborate plan to obtain information and take down the organization (even if the documents do manage to fall into his lap). The set up’s simple goal is to allow the hero to decimate the mob line by killing every last one of them in the most ferocious ways possible. Of course, the villains aren’t any more cunning. Even when they finally decide to use “strategy” and obtain hostages to force McCall out, their grand scheme involves attacking the protagonist one by one and take horrific beatings like punching dummies.
This is a tough film to assign a grade. It’s ridiculous, filled with plot holes and runs about twenty minutes longer than it needs to. Admittedly, it does work in some respects as an over-the-top B-movie. The cast is far better than the material they’ve been given. Washington still is a formidable and charismatic lead and Moretz makes the most of what is essentially a bit role. Csokas is fun to watch as the antagonist, going full-tilt bad guy and sporting a permanent scowl (with an expression that looks like he’s being perpetually forced to smell something really foul).
And in spite of the griminess and low-light levels of the locations, the movie looks quite striking. There are even some clever visual tricks used during the action sequences. In several instances, events slow down as McCall takes stock of his surroundings just before his violent outbursts.
Honestly, though, I’m still not even sure that I appreciated the movie in the way it was intended. As the stakes are raised, the absurdity reaches its apex. The over-the-top final act finds the hero skulking in the shadows and suddenly leaping out of the darkness to murder his assassins (while brandishing power tools like drills and nail guns to do so in an absurdly noisy manner). It resembles a series of death scenes out of a Friday the 13th movie.
Overall, this cinematic reboot of the TV series doesn’t really have a direct connection to its source material. In fact, the character probably wouldn’t even be recognizable if it weren’t for a coda that sets up his business (with a vaguely worded classified ad offering assistance to any who need it). The Equalizer isn’t a great movie and subtlety isn’t its strong suit, but it does provide a chuckle or two. One just hopes that the next client sending McCall a message isn’t asking for help with a pesky neighbor who double-parks – one shudders to think of the needlessly excessive measures “The Equalizer” might take in that scenario.