Movie Review: The Equalizer
Nutshell: I’d give The Equalizer an A-. A well done update of the 80s badass savior series, there’s a few hiccups here and there (see: the overuse of Important Slow Walking), but all in all an enjoyable good-guys-win film.
I remember watching the original Equalizer series with my mom. She was a crime TV junkie, which is probably where I get it from. The story of a former deep cover spy-type operative using his skills to help the helpless satisfied my love of stuff getting blown up and cinematic just desserts. The Equalizer has the same vibe, seamlessly adapted to our new millennium. Probably because things are just as bad now as they were then, or perhaps they’re even worse. That’s another topic for another day.
Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) knows how to get a top-notch performance out of Denzel Washington, and as bad-guy-making-good Robert McCall, Washington plays it as quiet and cool as Edward Woodward ever did. Here, McCall is re-imagined as Robert McCall, a man who keeps to himself after a violent past he’s sworn to put behind him. He works at the local Home Depot Mart, and in the wee hours when he can’t sleep, he heads to the local diner for a cup of tea and a good book. He gets to know the diner owner, and the regulars, including the young Russian prostitute Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz). When Teri gets beat up by her pimp, McCall can’t let it slide, setting off a chain reaction of events that puts himself and those around him at risk.
Washington is a perfect fit for McCall, making the character’s quirks and skill set believable. McCall’s Rain Man compulsion for accuracy and timing could have come off as off-putting, but Washington makes it feel like old-school manners and function. McCall is a badass, but a low-key badass. A slow simmer badass. Some may not understand the idea of not letting anger get the better of you, but in The Equalizer it’s exactly what you’d expect from a well trained former professional killer. Imagine Halloween’s Michael Meyers, but as the good guy. Calm, cool, collected and unstoppable. Without the Kirk mask.
Director Fuqua telegraph’s McCall’s thought processes by Sherlock-like POV scenes; their disjointed but uber-focused tunnel vision helps understand the character more than a long-winded expositional scene ever could. The script has tons of Chicken Soup for the Soul nuggets — “Body, Mind, Spirit” “When you pray for rain, you gotta deal with the mud too” — but delivered by Washington they feel genuine and fit the tone of the scenes they’re in.
The Equalizer feels like the old medieval-morality-play horror films of the 80s; the good guys survive, and the bad guys get what’s coming to ‘em. It’s easy to watch and cheer for McCall as he takes down mob kingpins, petty thugs, and crooked cops. Getting to know him is a bit tough though, as his backstory is doled out tiny piece by tiny piece. It’s good to know a bit about the original series before you head to the multiplex, or just check out the trailer (warning: watching the trailer will dampen a few of the Aww-Yeah moments.)
Composer Harry Gregson-Williams (The Town) crafts a killer musical score, dialing things down in the calm, and amping things up in the storm. The climax of the film is layered with bass-heavy beats that emphasize the violence while pumping up the audience. Add in Fuqua’s close-ups, and cinematography that captures the darkness and rain so clearly you can see drops fall from eyelashes, and it’s a helluva rush. And FX, stunts and pyrotechnics are top notch throughout. So much so that seeing Moretz after her character gets sent to the ICU is painful to watch, and after McCall deals with one of her adversaries, I’ll never be able to look at a corkscrew in quite the same way.
The Equalizer is for anyone who wants to go to the movies and walk out feeling good. This film made me cheer, and I ain’t ashamed. So g’head if you wanna. No judgement here.
