Review of The Equalizer (2014) by Agarcia732 — 31 Dec 2014

The Equalizer is "revenge-porn", but not much else. Maybe "The Equalizer" just isn't my cup of tea, but I'm surprised it got as many favorable reviews as it did. The movie felt kind of aimless, pointless, and unmeaningful IMO (just as Robert's life was portrayed in the film). Robert McCall is just a widowed man living through the motions, not doing much except visiting diners at 2 AM, reading all the books on a list of 100 classic "must-read" novels, chatting politely with strangers, helping people out, and keeping his apartment very clean. Robert (and the movie) have no sense of clear direction or purpose. And suddenly comes the one (actually, multiple people/events) destined to send him back into his old ways, and one thing leads to another. Besides exacting brutal justice on helpless goons with his "very particular set of skills" and simultaneously leaving lots of very obvious loose ends that are just BOUND to catch up with him, (enforcer & problem-solver/Russian villain) Teddy also impulsively kills for no reason! (He murders a Irish mob boss, which SHOULD start a gang war, but doesn't.).

There are quite a bit of reckless actions done throughout this movie, and most of them hard to ignore. Besides the aforementioned logical fallacies, its hard to believe that of all the times Robert McCall witnessed injustice in his life (since having faked his own death as a former black ops commando), one random act of violence perpetrated against a stranger makes him go back to his former ways. NOTHING before that ever even slightly tempted him to exact violent and brutal justice? If he could so easily do good (as he takes down baddies and cripples a criminal empire with ease), why hadn't he done it before?

The film has action and gore, yet even that fails to be entertaining--as Denzel/Robert is far too badass to ever even feel threatened. He seems super-human, which makes it hard for you to connect/relate to him. Victims in the movie don't have enough development to have the audience sympathize with them. As the action is not suspenseful, the plot hard to believe, and the characters underdeveloped/only used to advance the plot, The Equalizer doesn't have much going for it. It's too long and mundane. It doesn't even bring much new material to the table, similarly to Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Both do little to establish themselves as different from the many movies out there. The Equalizer is too reminiscent of other vigilante/action films (TAKEN!), and it even reminds me of Home Alone (mostly during the finale)! Denzel's acting style is the only saving grace of the movie.

Remember the Titans, Man on Fire, and 2 Guns were better Denzel Washington films, and Olympus Has Fallen was a more satisfying product from director Antoine Fuqua. I don't hate "The Equalizer", but it was a "flimsy pretext" stretched to last two hours and filled with meaningless violence (mostly used to establish the film as grisly and dark). It's a "rejected Taken plotline" repurposed to give Sony an unnecessary action movie franchise. This should remain a stand-alone film. It honestly doesn't warrant a sequel. I hate to say this, but "The Equalizer" feels like a "regurgitated cash-grab".

I have reviewed 36 other movies, including the 2014 films: The Interview, Exodus: Gods and Kings, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1, Dracula Untold, The Maze Runner, The Expendables 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Giver, Sharknado 2, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Edge of Tomorrow, X-Men Days of Future Past, Godzilla, Blended, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Divergent, Transcendence, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, The Lego Movie, and more.

I review TV shows, such as: The Flash, Arrow (Season 3), Gotham, The Last Ship, Sleepy Hollow, Marvel's Agents of SHIELD (Season 1 and 2), The 100, I Wanna Marry Harry, Crisis, Gang Related, and more. I also have reviewed the mobile Android games: Minecraft Pocket Edition, Clash of Clans, and Five Night's at Freddy's.

(P.S, some of the quotes are from other online text sources.