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Denzel Washington has worked on feature films for over 40 years, and until this point, he has not starred in any sequels. Sure, there have been movies that were made with the intent of igniting a series, but none of the ideas came to fruition. Today, he seems to jump at the opportunity to have a sequel done, especially after starring in, ‘The Equalizer2.’ This move was definitely a shocking one, especially because it begs the question: why did he end his streak of no sequels with a movie like this?
‘The Equalizer,’ Washington’s 2014 film managed to take off at the box office. However, just like with most films, the buzz around it died down barely a few months later. For people that claimed to enjoy the film, Washington fans will not have to worry about whether or not they came to like the movie. The sequel stands to be sadistic, apathetic, and limp in its elaboration. The suffering, stupidity, and sloppiness that comes with the movie will leave minimal to no chances for the most satisfied fans of Washington to actually find anything useful in it.
The first film spotted Washington in the role of Robert McCall, an average looking employee of a big box store who by chance is an ex-CIA operative who meticulously goes after those who cross paths with him or his associates. If I remember correctly, at one stage, the store underwent a robbery where one of the thieves took a coworker’s wedding ring. Luckily, using the unique skill set I believe consisted of getting the license plate of the getaway car – he figures out where the thief lives, pays him a midnight visit and using a store hammer, beats him untill the ring was returned, and both parties were satisfied. His only true friends were Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo) ex-agency colleague, and her husband Brian (Bill Pullman). She is the only one who knows he is still alive.
Just like everyone else, it seems that McCall is forced out of the retail business, so now he drives a Lyft. Fortunately, this also gives him the chance to come across unsavory characters, killing them as payment for their misdeeds.
Susan, on the other hand, has different plans for him. In the opening scene, he is assassinating a gang of kidnappers on a train to Istanbul and gets a freelance job from Susan which is outside the books. But for the most part, he seems to be stuck in a bit of a rut, as his current undertakings seem rather simple. For example, he is trying to assist Orson Bean, an elderly Lyft passenger recuperate a painting that had been stolen from his family during the Nazi’s reign, as well as mentoring a neighbor boy Miles Sanders by enrolling him in a painting program instead of letting him sell drugs. On the other hand, he does not do much stabbing, shooting, or neck-breaking. This all shifts when Susan goes to Belgium to investigate the death of a high-level agency contact. The suicide murder mystery case takes a turn for the worse when she is ultimately murdered. Spoiler alert: it does become personal. McCall hops on the task and attempts to Susan’s assassins single handedly from behind. With his superhuman intuition and flawless killing technique it does not take long to wipe them out.
The plot of “The Equalizer 2” may seem uninteresting when explained casually, but you cannot begin to guess how tedious it is to sit through it in real time. Richard Wenk’s screenplay is some bad comedy filled with ordinary characters, unrealistic plots, and revenge story cliches that pause for the unimaginative side story of McCall and the random kid that was probably added just to make Mr. Washington think that he was starring in something different from ‘Death Wish’ Mr. Fuqua dreadfully tapes the movie without passion simply because he is being paid. neither does Washington nor Fuqua put any effort into these stories that have been so personally important to the audience.
“The Equalizer 2” stands out for its inclination towards sadistic violence where the only memorable aspect tends to hover around this attribute. There is some excitement in watching violence, however, there is a line that should never be crossed, and this film along with the previous one, certainly crossed that line. It’s even more baffling because if I recall correctly, the original series had a character who outsmarted criminals instead of using brute force. I do recall Washington being capable of executing theatrical roles but in this movie, that trait totally disappeared in order to get face spearing and neck stabbing included. The manner in which Melissa Leo’s character meets her end is especially ugly. I remember in a previous film with Fuqua, “Olympus Has Fallen” (2013), Melissa Leo underwent another prolonged scene where she was met with such brutality and this is when I finally began to wonder if this was a coincidence.
So if this is indeed the case, I think Leo should think twice before picking up the phone next time he decides to call her.
The Equalizer 2 is largely terrible, but despite that, it is executed well, and its box office returns will likely be decent due to the enormous goodwill Washington has built up with people over the years. It is sad to see it wasted it on something as awful as this. There is no doubt, however, that he will, and can, do much better in the future with other more useful projects and there is no doubt that movie goers can do much better too, especially if they stay away from this one altogether.
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