The Equalizer (2014): Why The Equalizer Works Even When It Shouldnt - REVIEW

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skiptvads17 days ago10 min read

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Was in the mood for some action before New Year, decided not to go the John Wick path and landed on The Equalizer, the very first one from 2014 of the Denzel Washington trilogy, is one of those movies that just works even when you know it should not work this well, its got that vibe where you sit down expecting some basic action flick and then boom you get something way more layered at least thats how I felt after watching some other movies from Denzel Washington like "Man On Fire" back in the day, for sure one of my favorite actors. Denzel Washington playing Robert McCall is probably the most chill badass character you can think of, plus just because of him everyone was buying that fkn watch, this dude rocks gluten free bread, wears cross trainers and dad jeans like your friendly mailman but then turns into a killing machine the second someone messes with people he cares about, its such a weird contrast but it somehow makes the violence hit harder when it finally happens. Antoine Fuqua directed this one and did a solid job building up McCall as this super methodical almost OCD type of guy who times his kills and organizes salt shakers before he starts breaking faces, the guy literally cannot sleep so he ends up at diners reading books and drinking tea, living this quiet life working at Home Mart which is basically Home Depot without the rights, helping his coworkers chase their dreams while hiding this insane skill set that could take down entire criminal organizations. What I really enjoy about this movie is how it takes its sweet time to build up McCalls character before unleashing him, we are talking almost forty minutes of setup watching him help this kid Ralphie train to become a security guard and giving advice to this young prostitute Teri played by Chloe Grace Moretz whos trying to escape her situation, you actually start caring about these people before the action kicks in which makes McCalls decision to intervene feel earned instead of just another excuse for fight scenes.

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0455944/
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Rottentomatoes Rating

The relationship between McCall and Teri is the heart of the whole movie even though she basically vanishes after the first act which pissed me off because I wanted more of that side of the story, she is this girl trapped in the sex trade working for these Russian mobsters and McCall sees her at the diner every night reading and dreaming about becoming a singer someday. When she gets beaten half to death by her pimp Slavi, thats when McCall decides to come out of retirement or whatever the hell he was doing before, he walks into Slavis office with ninety eight hundred dollars cash trying to buy Teris freedom like a civilized person but these idiots laugh in his face and make jokes about how she was just a child when they got her, its one of those moments where you know shits about to go down because Denzels face goes completely blank, this scene becomes such a classic from a meme to one of the most badass action scenes on movies. The scene where he takes out five guys in under thirty seconds using whatever random objects are lying around is fkn beautiful, corkscrews through necks, shot glasses to throats, just brutal efficient killing while he calmly counts down the time in his head, its like watching a surgeon work except the patient is five dead Russian gangsters bleeding out on a dirty office floor. What makes McCall scary as hell is not just that he is good at killing people but that he gives everyone a choice first, he offers them money, he offers them a way out, he tells corrupt cops to return the money they stole or face consequences, but when they choose violence he does not hesitate to destroy them completely and its so satisfying to watch because these are terrible people who deserve whats coming, so do yourself a favor and just enjoy the action without thinking about the moral side of it, it just a movie, a bloody one.

The movie has this whole subplot with Ralphie trying to become a security guard that feels kinda unnecessary in the moment but it actualy serves a purpose later when the final showdown happens at Home Mart and Ralphie ends up being one of the hostages, it ties everything together in a way that makes McCalls personal life matter to the plot instead of just being filler between action scenes. The villain of the movie is this Russian enforcer named Teddy played by Marton Csokas who shows up after McCall kills Slavi and his crew, he is suppose to be this terrifying operator sent by the big boss to figure out who did this and clean up the mess but honestly I found him kinda cartoonish with all his facial expressions and tattoos, like he is trying way too hard to be menacing when the movie already has Denzel being quietly terrifying just by existing. Teddy does this whole investigation thing where he tracks down McCall by going through security footage and questioning witnesses, its actualy pretty clever detective work for an action movie and adds some tension as you watch him get closer and closer to figuring out who McCall really is, the scene where they finally meet face to face at a restaurant is fkn tense because they are both just sitting there talking but you know either one of them could snap and kill everyone in the room. McCall eventually reveals that he used to work for some government agency, probably CIA or something similar based on the flashbacks with his friend Susan played by Melissa Leo who still has connections, when Teddy figures out McCalls real identity he realizes he is completely screwed because this is not just some random guy this is a highly trained operative who faked his own death to get away from that life.

The pacing in the middle drags a bit with McCall helping randoms people around his neighborhood deal with corrupt cops and local criminals, its nice character development but after a while you just want to get to the big fights because you know its coming. When Teddy and his team finally come after McCall they make the mistake of threatening the people he cares about including Ralphie and the other Home Mart employees, so McCall lures them to the store after hours and turns it into a death trap using power tools and hardware supplies to pick them off one by one. The final battle is insane, watching McCall use a nail gun to shatter this huge Russian guy nuts so he cant even lift his rifle anymore is brutal as fk, then he finishes him off by nailing him straight through the throat, its creative violent and everything you want from an action movie climax. Teddy gets taken out in this melodramatic scene with water pouring everywhere like its the fkn Passion of Christ which felt a bit much but whatever, then McCall goes after the main Russian mob boss Pushkin and electrocutes him in his shower because apparently McCall can just fly to Russia whenever he wants and walk into a mob bosses house no problem. The ending wraps things up with Teri getting her freedom and a fresh start, McCall gives her the money and a ticket out of town so she can pursue her dream of singing, its a nice payoff for their relationship even though we barely saw her in the second half of the movie which still bugs me because Chloe Grace Moretz did a great job making you care about her character in the limited screen time she had.

What really stands out about The Equalizer is how Denzel commits to this character completely, every little detail from the way he lines up his tools at work to how he times himself doing everyday tasks shows you this is a man who needs control and order in his life because he is capable of so much violence, he uses that same precision when hes killing people and it makes every action scene feel calculated instead of just random chaos. The movie does not try to justify McCalls actions or make him seem like a hero, hes clearly someone with a dark past who enjoys what he does even if hes trying to use his skills for good now, theres a scene where he beats the sht out of some guy who robbed his coworker and you can see the satisfaction on his face, its not about justice its about him needing an outlet for this part of himself he cant fully suppress. Bill Pullman shows up for like five minutes to drink soup and play chess with Denzel then disappears from the movie which felt like a waste of Bill Pullman, same with Melissa Leos character who basically just exists to give McCall information and then vanish, the supporting cast I would say is fine but they are all just there to serve Denzels story which is probably how it should be but still feels like missed oportunities for more interesting side characters. The action is brutal and well shot, Fuqua knows how to build tension and then release it with these explosive moments of violence that feel earned, the scene where McCall interrogates a dirty cop by locking him in a car with carbon monoxide poisoning is straight out of Man on Fire which is a better movie but whatever it works here too.

The Equalizer is not trying to be deep or philosophical, its pure wish fulfillment watching a good guy with insane skills destroy evil people in the most creative ways possible and sometimes thats exactly what you need from a movie, just dont overthink it. The whole thing about him reading one hundred books everyone should read before they die is a nice touch that makes him feel more cultured and interesting than your average action hero, I think that work out to distance hiim even more from the violence he unleash latter on, discussing The Old Man and the Sea with random people at diners between murder sprees. I would give this movie a solid 8 out of 10, its entertaining from start to finish even with the pacing issues in the middle, Denzel carries the entire thing on his shoulders and makes you believe every second of it, the fact that it spawned two more sequels says something about how much people loved seeing him kick ass in dad jeans and a polo shirt, but the truth is that this trilogy falls into the classic theme of the first been the best out of all. If you want a straightforwrd action movie with some actually good character work and brutal fight scenes then The Equalizer delivers just do not expect anything groundbreaking because its basically John Wick before John Wick existed except with an older protagonist who shops at Costco and helps his neighbors with there problems, its comfort food for people who like watching bad guys get what they deserve in the most satisfying ways imaginable.