The Equalizer
The
Equalizer
In Theaters: Sep 26, 2014 Wide
Rated R for graphic violence, sexual references and pervasive profanity
Running time: 131 minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Mystery & Suspense
Directed By: Antoine Fuqua
Written By: Richard Wenk
Film Review by Kam Williams
Excellent (★★★★)
On the surface, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a
perfectly-pleasant, hail fellow well met. By day, the affable widower is
employed as a sales associate at a hardware superstore where he jokes with
co-workers who call him “Pops.” Evenings, he retires to a modest apartment
in a working-class, Boston community, although bouts of insomnia often have
him descending to a nearby diner to read a book into the wee hours of the
morning.
The dingy joint looks a lot like the dive depicted by Edward Hopper in the
classic painting “Nighthawks.” Among the seedy haunt’s habitués is Teri
(Chloe Grace Moretz), a provocatively-dressed prostitute who hangs out there
between clients.
Robert takes a personal interest in the troubled teen, a recent immigrant
whose real name is Alina. He soon learns that she’d rather be pursuing a
musical career than sleeping with stranger after stranger. Trouble is she’s
under the thumb of Slavi (David Meunier), a sadistic pimp who’ll stop at
nothing to keep a whore in check.
A critical moment arrives the night she arrives in the restaurant and hands
Robert her new demo tape while trying to hide a black eye. But he becomes
less interested in the CD than in the whereabouts of the creep who gave her
the shiner.
What neither Teri nor anybody else in town knows is that Robert’s a retired
spy who had cultivated the proverbial set of deadly skills over the course
of his career. At this juncture, the mild-mannered retiree reluctantly
morphs into an anonymous vigilante more than willing to dole out a bloody
brand of street justice on behalf of Teri and other vulnerable crime victims
with seemingly no recourse.
Thus unfolds The Equalizer, a riveting, relatively-gruesome
adaptation of the popular, 1980s TV-series. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, this
version is actually more reminiscent of Death Wish (1974), as this
picture’s protagonist behaves less like the television show’s British
gentleman than the brutal avenging angel portrayed on the big screen by
Charles Bronson.
Considerable credit must go to Oscar-winner Mauro Fiore’s (Avatar)
visually-captivating cinematography for capturing Boston in a way which is
somehow both stylish and haunting. Nevertheless, the eye-pleasing panoramas
simply serve as a backdrop for Denzel who is even better here than in his
Oscar-winning collaboration with Fuqua for
Training Day.
Revenge as a dish best served cold by a sleep-deprived, diner patron
equalizer!