Review of The Equalizer 2 (2018) by Tybee — 11 Oct 2020

I went into this moving thinking it was just another action movie and had no idea I'd come out with an entirely different take on it due to it's immense symbolism. In fact, the symbolism was so great, my wife and I immediately went back to watch the first one again. I expected a typical action movie - the good guy has a dark/mysterious past, he shoots/blows up the bad guys, roll credits. However, there is so much more than that in this movie (and the first). The entire movie is an allegory for God, good vs. evil, angels and demons, etc. In this case, Denzel's character is an allegory for God. He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, he knows the time and place of your death, he offers repentance for your sins, a second chance; and those that choose to follow him and turn against their ways will be saved. Furthermore, those that continuously rebel against him and continue to commit evil will always have justice served. The first real scene of this is clearly displayed when Miles Whittaker, a troubled young teen that Robert McCall (Denzel)is trying to help change his ways, is tempted by money and notoriety to join a drug-dealing gang. Due to the symbolism of McCall acting as God, I will refer to him as "God" from here on to further prove my point. Despite God's attempt to show Whittaker a better path than the evil one he's tempted by, Whittaker joins the gang anyways and is tasked by the gang to conduct his first kill. However, God infiltrates the gang's hideout and extracts him. Whittaker, upset at God's actions, then tests him to conduct the evil act of murder by killing God himself. When Whittaker fails to do so out of fear, he then flips the tables and instills the fear of the death into Whittaker by placing the gun to Whittaker's head saying "You don't know what death is" - signifying that Whittaker does not understand the path he wants to choose will lead to suffering he does not understand.

It is at this time the pair split up within the room, with Whittaker on the shadowy, graffiti-covered side of the room and God on the other with a light shining behind him - further emphasizing the symbolism of light and darkness and good and evil. Whittaker, saddened and confused asks McCall "Why me?". To which God responds "Why not you?". Whittaker then asks God why he should trust him. To which God responds, "Walk with me and find out". It is at this point I realized the entire movie is nothing but an allegory. It further explains why McCall, or God, seems to be nearly invincible in all of his fights. It also explains how he knows things that normal people would not know. It explains the justice he delivers. It explains the second chances he gives to nearly all evil doers. It explains why he starts and stops his watch before and after scenes, for he knows the time and place of your death. He knows the very second you will die. It explains all of the various scenes that were chosen, with evil often imaged in darkness and God depicted in light. It also explains the storm references in the movie, which is the most important. For, near the beginning of the movie a T.V. is playing the news in which the news casts warns of a coming storm - this being an allegory for God's wrath. In addition, all throughout various scenes thunder can be heard off in the distance that grows progressively worse as the evil grows progressively worse. Whittaker, after the aforementioned scene headed God's word and changed his ways. In response, when evil attempts to come into God's house, God protects and shields him from certain death. But when Whittaker thought he was in the clear, he leaves God's house and is abducted by the evil-doers.

God then travels to the main "demon's" (Dave York) house and questions him regarding good and evil, to judge what he has done. In which Dave responds with "There is no sin. No virtue. There's just sh** people do". It is at this time the storm comes to a head and has transitioned to a full-fledged hurricane with the entire city evacuating. The main bad guy, Dave York, ascends the tallest tower in the city to provide sniper cover to his men who are trying to kill God. This is an allegory for him attempting to force himself in the kingdom of heaven. To which, God throws the demon from the tower of heaven to his death.

It is clear, that any evil committed within the movie's story line, you can rest assured that God will deliver his justice accordingly. Further evidence of this allegory is McCall's ability to speak and understand multiple languages including Spanish, Arabic, Russian, English, etc. While obviously, the presumption is that he's acquired this through his mysterious military/government background, the allegory remains still. While I won't be able to explain the hundreds of allegories in this review, I highly recommend you watch the move from this mindset and then go back and watch the first and you'll see them come to light.