The Equalizer (FILM REVIEW)
The Equalizer
Film
Review by Kam Williams
Denzel Does Vigilante in Adaptation of Eighties TV Series
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!
Excellent
(4 stars)
Rated R
for graphic violence, sexual references and pervasive profanity
In English and Russian with subtitles
Running time: 131
minutes
Distributor: Sony Pictures
To see a trailer for The
Equalizer, visit:
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