Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer has its fair share of grisly thrills, but it's far from a good movie. The 2014 shoot-'em-up is generic and sluggish, lacking any notable qualities beyond the charismatic star performance of Denzel Washington and a healthy dose of creative violence. But that film looks like a masterpiece in comparison to The Equalizer 2, a sequel that fails to improve on its disappointing predecessor. Sure, Denzel does his thing again as friendly neighborhood government assassin Robert McCall, serving up a few moving sequences and plenty of nasty kills. It's a shame that Fuqua once again fails to provide an interesting story to go along with these surface-level pleasures, bogging the film down in a variety of subplots and detours without focusing on the core narrative. It's an empty action vehicle, proving that The Equalizer's failings were no fluke.
Robert McCall is still a ghost in the eyes of the government, but that won't stop him from helping people in need of a savior. When we're reunited with the orderly, principled McCall, he's on a train to Turkey, clad in a unique disguise. He blends in, but of course, McCall has a job to do. He dispatches a group of baddies with precision and efficiency, rescuing a young girl who was stolen from her mother. Upon his return to the States, McCall doesn't stop his crusade for justice. He spends much of his time as a Lyft driver, helping ordinary people get from place to place. And when they need a little more forceful assistance, McCall is always prepared to offer his services.
Beyond the random people he helps with his rides, the former soldier focuses much of his time on becoming a father figure for Miles (Ashton Sanders), a talented young artist struggling with his brother's death and tempted by the promise of gang life. In a slightly less prominent subplot, McCall helps reunite the elderly Sam Rubenstein with his sister, who he was separated from during World War II.
Oh! You wanna know what the actual plot is? There is one- kinda. One of the few people aware of McCall's status is Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), a friend from the government days. Susan encourages her old buddy to move on from the death of his wife, switching back to a quieter life. But when Susan and a Belgian operative are murdered, any plans of retirement are put on hold. With a little help from Dave York (Pedro Pascal), another colleague from the military, McCall discovers a group of talented operatives tying up loose ends. Which means only one thing for him: revenge.
Look, Denzel is the kind of actor who could deliver a remarkable performance in a Sharknado movie without even trying. The man is a legend for a reason. Under the guidance of one of the finest movie stars in the world, Robert McCall is still a mostly interesting, dynamic character, equipped with an arsenal of idiosyncrasies and quirks that make him both approachable and emotionally distant. It's occasionally fun and touching to watch this carefully organized assassin interact with people in need, whether it's an old friend or a young kid like Miles. Speaking of Miles, Ashton Sanders proves here that Moonlight was not a fluke, delivering another layered performance as a teen in crisis. His chemistry with Denzel is electric, and they have a scene together that sparks the movie to life for a few minutes.
But the problem with the Equalizer movies has never been Robert McCall. The core problem of this whole series is Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk's inability to elevate this character with a good story. Sure, there are a number of nice character moments in this film, but how do they connect? Fuqua and Wenk are responsible for linking individual moments into something cohesive and satisfying- in other words, an effective narrative. Instead, The Equalizer 2 feels like a series of vignettes stitched together in the most lackadaisical way possible, dragged down by a paper thin revenge storyline that nobody seems to care about. It takes an hour of McCall accomplishing assorted tasks for the plot to kick into gear, but even at that point, it's brutally obvious that the core story is an afterthought.
There's nothing wrong with being a character-focused action vehicle, but The Equalizer 2 never focuses on anything long enough for a substantial impact on the viewer. While many scoffed at the idea of a World War II subplot in a modern revenge movie, it's one of many plot detours on display here, so I barely even processed it as something noteworthy. Fuqua and Wenk have never seen a subplot that they didn't love, and this film is loaded with them, mostly to the detriment of the main story. Amusingly enough, the core thrust of the film is the most underdeveloped part of the whole bloody affair, a tangled web of vague motivations and decidedly obvious cliches. It lands with a thud, and no amount of hyper-stylized carnage can change that.
In a funny way, Fuqua seems to position Robert McCall as a violent version of Paddington, a protector of the community who unites and helps people them when they need him most. Just picture Paddington wielding a harpoon and a pistol and you're halfway there. The idea of unity through violent justice is interesting, a concept that exists at the core of many films like this one. But just like everything else in The Equalizer 2, the theme is half-baked and mostly pointless, just another blip on the radar of a film that couldn't focus if it tried. Even with a stormy action climax that goes heavy on the clinical, thrilling violence, this scattershot, baffling follow-up falls flat.
THE FINAL GRADE: D+ (4.1/10)
Images courtesy of Sony
Robert McCall is still a ghost in the eyes of the government, but that won't stop him from helping people in need of a savior. When we're reunited with the orderly, principled McCall, he's on a train to Turkey, clad in a unique disguise. He blends in, but of course, McCall has a job to do. He dispatches a group of baddies with precision and efficiency, rescuing a young girl who was stolen from her mother. Upon his return to the States, McCall doesn't stop his crusade for justice. He spends much of his time as a Lyft driver, helping ordinary people get from place to place. And when they need a little more forceful assistance, McCall is always prepared to offer his services.
Beyond the random people he helps with his rides, the former soldier focuses much of his time on becoming a father figure for Miles (Ashton Sanders), a talented young artist struggling with his brother's death and tempted by the promise of gang life. In a slightly less prominent subplot, McCall helps reunite the elderly Sam Rubenstein with his sister, who he was separated from during World War II.
Oh! You wanna know what the actual plot is? There is one- kinda. One of the few people aware of McCall's status is Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), a friend from the government days. Susan encourages her old buddy to move on from the death of his wife, switching back to a quieter life. But when Susan and a Belgian operative are murdered, any plans of retirement are put on hold. With a little help from Dave York (Pedro Pascal), another colleague from the military, McCall discovers a group of talented operatives tying up loose ends. Which means only one thing for him: revenge.
Look, Denzel is the kind of actor who could deliver a remarkable performance in a Sharknado movie without even trying. The man is a legend for a reason. Under the guidance of one of the finest movie stars in the world, Robert McCall is still a mostly interesting, dynamic character, equipped with an arsenal of idiosyncrasies and quirks that make him both approachable and emotionally distant. It's occasionally fun and touching to watch this carefully organized assassin interact with people in need, whether it's an old friend or a young kid like Miles. Speaking of Miles, Ashton Sanders proves here that Moonlight was not a fluke, delivering another layered performance as a teen in crisis. His chemistry with Denzel is electric, and they have a scene together that sparks the movie to life for a few minutes.
But the problem with the Equalizer movies has never been Robert McCall. The core problem of this whole series is Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk's inability to elevate this character with a good story. Sure, there are a number of nice character moments in this film, but how do they connect? Fuqua and Wenk are responsible for linking individual moments into something cohesive and satisfying- in other words, an effective narrative. Instead, The Equalizer 2 feels like a series of vignettes stitched together in the most lackadaisical way possible, dragged down by a paper thin revenge storyline that nobody seems to care about. It takes an hour of McCall accomplishing assorted tasks for the plot to kick into gear, but even at that point, it's brutally obvious that the core story is an afterthought.
There's nothing wrong with being a character-focused action vehicle, but The Equalizer 2 never focuses on anything long enough for a substantial impact on the viewer. While many scoffed at the idea of a World War II subplot in a modern revenge movie, it's one of many plot detours on display here, so I barely even processed it as something noteworthy. Fuqua and Wenk have never seen a subplot that they didn't love, and this film is loaded with them, mostly to the detriment of the main story. Amusingly enough, the core thrust of the film is the most underdeveloped part of the whole bloody affair, a tangled web of vague motivations and decidedly obvious cliches. It lands with a thud, and no amount of hyper-stylized carnage can change that.
In a funny way, Fuqua seems to position Robert McCall as a violent version of Paddington, a protector of the community who unites and helps people them when they need him most. Just picture Paddington wielding a harpoon and a pistol and you're halfway there. The idea of unity through violent justice is interesting, a concept that exists at the core of many films like this one. But just like everything else in The Equalizer 2, the theme is half-baked and mostly pointless, just another blip on the radar of a film that couldn't focus if it tried. Even with a stormy action climax that goes heavy on the clinical, thrilling violence, this scattershot, baffling follow-up falls flat.
THE FINAL GRADE: D+ (4.1/10)
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