MPAA Rating: R/Genre: Action Thriller/Stars: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Orson Bean, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, Jonathan Scarfe, Sakina Jaffrey, Kazy Tauginas, Garrett Golden, Tamara Hickey, Rhys Cote, Adam Karst, Antoine de Lartigue, Abigail Marlowe, Andrei Arlovski/Runtime: 121 minutes
I think it’s safe to say that, prior to the long-ago year of 2018, if you made a list of actors who had never once in their careers decided to revisit a character for a sequel then the first name that undoubtedly would have been brought up for consideration would have been none other than Denzel Washington. To be sure, I have no doubt that there have been more than a few characters that this acting legend could easily have reprised with such names as Xavier Quinn, Lincoln Rhyme, Easy Rawlins, Keith Frazier, and Bobby Trench coming to mind. However, and for some reason or another, Washington simply chose to move on to something different instead. A creative choice that may have led to no sequels for a long time in his impressive career, but which also helped showcase his range as a talent so I guess it all evened out. Of course, as the land of movie magic is good at showing us, it’s only a matter of time before sooner or later the sequel bug just becomes too strong to ignore and an actor will find themselves going back to a creative mine they visited once before in the hopes that they can strike box office and critical (but preferably both) gold once again. As a result, we saw this happen when in the year of 2018, Denzel made his first sequel in the form of a film, and slice of cinema I am reviewing for you today, known as The Equalizer 2 and which happened to be the sequel to a 2014 cinematic outing of his that operated as an extremely loose adaptation of an iconic 80s show of the same name. It was also the sequel to a film incidentally that I happened to have a degree of fondness and respect for. Not just due to my love for the genre of movie magic of which it is a part, but also for its leading man who is easily one of my favorite actors and who I will watch anything that he chooses to be in at the very least once. Suffice it to say then that to say I was more than a wee bit apprehensive before sitting down and watching this slice of cinema was assuredly more than a mild understatement. Having seen the finished product though, I must confess that my worries were by and large fairly unsubstantiated. I say this because, as flawed as this slice of cinema definitely is, I still did find a decent amount to enjoy here. To be sure, this is by no means a perfect film by any stretch of the imagination, but with the aid of decent work on both sides of the camera The Equalizer 2 might not be a great movie, but it is an engaging one and sometimes that truth be told is really all you need.
The plot is as follows: Picking up a certain amount of time following the events of the first film, The Equalizer 2 returns us to the world of our hero, one Robert McCall, as he makes his way in a normal that is quite distinct from the one he was a part of at the start of the first film. That being that although he really hasn’t made the choice to sit down and deal with whatever it was that resulted in him making the choice to fake his demise from his position at the DIA and take up a much more low-key life in the city of Boston, our hero now operates as a driver for Lyft (clearly Uber’s licensing rights were too expensive) and every so often take on an assignment from people who could use aid from an individual with his rather distinct skill set. Yet as good as heading to Istanbul to save a kidnapped child, aiding a Holocaust survivor in trying to find a treasured painting of his sister, or even beating the snot out of a group of smug corporate slimes who drugged and assaulted a young woman among other examples makes him feel we see that Robert is still very much not entirely at peace. Unfortunately, it isn’t long before things go from bad to worse when, whilst on an assignment in Brussels, a dear friend is horrifically butchered and those who are responsible for the murder not only go after the friend’s loved ones, but even Robert himself. Yet as our intrepid hero attempts to get to the bottom of the mystery of his friend’s murder with the aid of his former partner in the DIA by the name of Dave York, we also see that he has another task he is working on. That being to act as a mentor of sorts to a young man named Miles who lives in the same building and who Robert sees a bit of potential in to be better than their surroundings might suggest otherwise especially when it comes to the young man’s phenomenal talent as an artist. Sadly it isn’t long before the case he is handling, his mentorship of Miles, and the people responsible for his friend’s death all wind up colliding together thus causing our hero to not only have to handle his past to say nothing of what caused him to live in Boston in the first place. Thus can our hero kick some bad guy butt, keep Miles safe, come to grips with his past, and avenge his friend or is this one situation that is too much for even McCall to handle? That I will leave for you to discover for yourself dear reader….
Now right off, it is worth pointing out that the work done behind the camera on this film isn’t too bad, but trust me when I say it definitely could’ve and should’ve been better. For starters, there is no denying that this slice of cinema and the people operating on both sides of the camera do manage to bring back a fair amount of what worked in the first installment for this particular go-around as well. Key among those elements is the more than hearty amount of visceral action that people really admired in the first one which, since this film gets underway with our hero having gone back to who he was before the events of the first film, really enables this one to just take the ball and run with it….even if things do slow down a bit in this film’s midsection. We also see that the crew behind the camera is able to bring on over the stylistic choices from the first film especially in regard to our hero’s rather distinct slo-mo almost Matrix bullet-time style of meticulously planning out how a distinct butt whooping is going to go in his mind before then doing exactly what he thought up in full view of the camera. Sadly, as engaging as these moments are, we see that this film doesn’t really do much to try and distinguish them from the moments we saw in the first film. On top of that, the film does genuinely try some new stylistic approaches here such as some camera shots that take place over the shoulder, but truth be told they at best don’t bring much to the film and at worst make this film give off the vibe of being a feature-length video game cinematic. We also see that although this film does move the action to some rather intriguing locales like a town in the middle of a hurricane, the fact is that they still tend to get a bit on the formulaic side due to how each and every one of them is our hero dispatching the bad guys one at a time in a variety of ways. To be fair, we see that the scribe on this film does try to bring more gravitas to these beats by grounding everything in a pathos-driven arc for our hero which gives us a bit more of his backstory, but sadly it doesn’t ever ring as true as it ought to. In addition, the mystery behind the murder of a character in this really isn’t all that hard to figure out especially in regards to who’s behind it. As a result, we see that by choosing to go down the twist road instead of the construction road this film doesn’t really give our hero someone that can actually root what he does in any genuine sort of stakes. That and when you also factor in a subplot or two that, as interesting and enjoyable as they are to see our hero kick some butt or help those in need, what we are given here does seem at points to be a narrative that does aid the action beats in operating to their fullest, but ultimately doesn’t hold a lot of water all things considered. Suffice it to say then that the action beats are engaging and the narrative is alright, but at the same time there is no denying that together these elements are nowhere near on the caliber they should be to ensure that this film is a genuinely great movie and instead be no more or less than an solidly made follow-up that is very much in synch with the framework established by its predecessor.
Of course, making up for the issues with the work done behind the camera would have to be the performances given by the cast of players in front of the camera. No the material they are given is by no means equal, but there is also no denying that this group still is able to make the most out of whatever they are ultimately given as well. This, to no surprise, starts with screen icon Denzel Washington in the lead role and he does a terrific job at making every bit of pathos, ferocity, and just straight up butt whooping in this look like it is absolutely organic to who he is as a person which, for a guy in his 60s, is nothing short of incredible whilst also ensuring teens everywhere that maybe ding dong ditching this man’s house might not be a smart move. Yet we also see that at this man’s center, Robert McCall is someone who, set of skills aside, just genuinely tries to be a good person and care about other people to the fullest extent possible and when the film gives us moments for him to display this, it truly is a sheer heartwarming joy to see an actor of Washington’s immense talent display that passion for us. Perhaps the best example of this character’s inherent decency can best be found in the interactions he has with the character of Miles. Indeed it is in those moments where we see a version of McCall who, instead of being a kick-butt action hero, operates more like a concerned surrogate father to this young man with genuine talent as an artist and strives to, in his own way, help him to not only be better than to give in to some of the temptations being offered by his surroundings or people in those surroundings, but also to be a better person and just be there for others. Suffice it to say that this slice of cinema might have its fair share of issues, but the performance given by Washington is most assuredly not one of them. We also get a fairly good performance here from Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal in the role of McCall’s old work partner David York. Yes there are a few aspects to this character that might be a bit on the slightly predictable side and Pascal isn’t given a whole lot of material to work with here, but nevertheless he does still manage to give a good turn here all things considered. I also really dug the work done here by Ashton Sanders (2016’s Moonlight) as Robert’s teen neighbor Miles. No the writing isn’t the best in terms of this character either, but Sanders still does a great job at giving us a character that, like our hero, we see has potential to genuinely do something special with his life and is being mentored by McCall to really utilize that potential in a positive manner only to find himself inadvertently caught up in our hero’s quest for revenge. Thus when you also factor in good efforts from such talents as the returning Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman (though in the case of the latter I must admit that I did get a slight bit of amusement out of seeing how Pullman looked absolutely confused that he was even in this one at times during his 20-25 minutes of screentime) as well as new players Jonathan Scarfe, Sakina Jaffrey (Linda Vasquez from House of Cards), and iconic character actor Orson Bean among others I think it can be said that the work done in front of the camera really isn’t bad all things considered.
All in all and at the end of the day is The Equalizer 2 a perfect action thriller slice of cinema? Oh heck no! Not even close. Come to think, it’s not even the best sequel that I have ever seen either let alone best film Denzel Washington has ever made. At the same time though, is this slice of cinema the worst sequel let alone cinematic action thrill ride I have seen in my life? Honestly I wouldn’t say that either (I mean I can’t still be the only person who’s still traumatized by Speed 2: Cruise Control). Indeed if anything, I would say that this slice of cinema is one that is definitely rainy day kind of cinematic fare in that the work done both behind and in front of the camera is good and the finished product is more than certainly entertaining enough, but at the end of the day it also is one film that is very much meant to just serve as a pleasant two hour diversion on a day when you just want to put something on to watch for entertainment. In other words: this film is very much the cinematic equivalent of enjoyable and addicting yet probably not the best for you junk food. I mean don’t get me wrong dear reader: the action beats are still just as riveting and visceral and the lead turn being reprised here by Denzel Washington is very much on point though given that it IS Denzel Washington we are talking about is it really that much of a surprise? Unfortunately not only are the supporting cast severely underutilized, despite game efforts from some of the players that make up that distinct group, but the story doesn’t flow nearly as smoothly as it did the first go-around, the main antagonist here doesn’t feel nearly as three dimensional or as fleshed out as Marton Csokas’ memorably psychotic turn in the first installment, and there are quite a few subplots in this that truth be told most assuredly did not need to be in this film. Suffice it to say then that with the onslaught of slightly watered-down PG-13 action cinema fare that audiences are used to getting around a certain time of year (Expendables 3 anyone?) it is safe to say that not only does Equalizer 2 distinguish itself from those slices of cinema, but in the process also manages to provide you, the viewer with a relatively engaging action thriller that definitely earns its R-rating and leaves you feeling fairly satisfied. Having said that though, is this a slice of cinema that is one that I think will stand out as a crown jewel in either its respective genre or its legendary lead actor’s filmography? Ehhhh not really. Make of that therefore what thou will. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Equalizer 2 “2018” a solid 3 out of 5.
