The Equalizer 2 is the sequel to Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer starring Denzel Washington. Fuqua has never directed and Washington has never appeared in a sequel before this movie! I never watched the tv series, which inspired the film franchise. The premise is unchanged. A former CIA agent takes his skills to the street like an angel of death and wields them on behalf of the vulnerable, exploited and wronged.
If I had a time machine, I would not right any great wrongs because I don’t have those skills. I would go back in time to see The Equalizer and John Wick 2 in theaters. When people complain about the glorification of violence in films, they are talking about these movies, and I love them. I barely remember anything substantive from the first film, but I owe Fuqua and Washington some money so I dutifully went to my local theater on opening weekend with six other summer action movie fans and had a great time then immediately put the first installment in my shopping cart dissatisfied that I couldn’t pre-purchase the second before it got released for home viewing so I could enjoy the orgy of satisfying vengeance. If you’re like me, then definitely see The Equalizer 2 immediately, but if you’re not, you know that you won’t enjoy it so let the rest of us have our fun and feel superior by skipping the remainder of this review, saving a little over two hours of viewing time and a few dollars.
Are they gone? Good! The Equalizer 2 requires a lot of suspension of disbelief. If you are even remotely familiar with the people in the cast because you consume a lot of movies (Kingsman: The Golden Circle, Olympus Has Fallen) and TV shows (Game of Thrones), you will probably be able to guess what is going to happen in the movie. The great news is that you won’t care because the filmmakers understand the genre, know what we want and give it to us in a visually sumptuous and beautiful executed package plus add a few extras that we didn’t even know that we wanted.
Unlike the first movie, The Equalizer 2 is set in a universe in which many of the rules of who to be suspicious of are completely flipped. It is the men in suits that get profiled, and the black teenager who is the kid that must be saved. People get rewarded for being relieved when a big, tall and broad, black man suddenly appears in their home to rescue them from intruders. I also thought that if you compared and contrasted the reaction of a group of young white men with a group of young black men, it was hilariously realistic that it was the latter that knew better than to physically challenge the older black man because as people age, they give less fucks about you, and you don’t need those problems. Never jump bad at anyone unless you know that you can take them. People were cheering loudly everytime Washington, I mean McCall, whooped people’s asses. The police are more suspicious of a group of white guys in a car! What is happening! (To be fair, there was a plausible explanation for that, but still!)
The Equalizer 2 was so fun that it decided to make God into McCall’s tactical backup as the wind knocked one guy upside his head then other forces of nature tidied up the crime scene in the denouement. I suppose God is a warrior. Melissa Leo does a great job reprising her role as McCall’s friend, and when you see her in the field, you get why they get along so well. Washington and Leo’s chemistry is so easy going that you can believe that they have known each other for a long time. Their affability is just as disarming as their skills.
I loved how The Equalizer 2 uses the logistics of navigating such as Uber or suburban life then mine it for the sinister underbelly and potential for simmering hostility and violence. These casual modes of transportation are taken for granted, but they also provide a space for people to encounter and interact with each other who normally would not or should not. My only quibble would be that I don’t think that it is possible to have that kind of driving sequence in any part of Massachusetts.
If The Equalizer 2 suffered any flaws, it was that it expected the viewers to make connections that seemed hastily drawn and alluded to. This film has a more international thriller tone than the first film which stayed very local so occasionally things get lost among all the shifting of locales and some of the bad guys are indistinguishable other than how many appear in a group. Because this movie is a summer move, lack of clarity does not hurt the film, but it does make it seem like there are plot holes where there may not be any. While not all of McCall’s redemptive lesser side projects felt as integral to the plot though germane to our undocumented immigrant political landscape, they were not so extraneous or time consuming to detract from the movie. Was the opening sequence related to the bookstore? It seemed like a different kid, but it had to be the same, right? The most eyeroll worthy sequence occurs in McCall’s apartment when he wasn’t there.
The way that The Equalizer 2 captures the beauty of Boston, which cinema normally reserves for Manhattan, is worth the price of admission. It always gives me a little thrill to watch a movie in theaters and recognize what is on screen, especially when the image captures the emotion of how you feel when you see the same subject in real life. Fuqua shows a real love for my adopted home state that I rarely see in other movies made by people who are not from here.
If you enjoyed the first film, then you should definitely see The Equalizer 2. Even though my memory of the first installment is fuzzy, I recall it as being a tightly crafted, gorgeous masterpiece of action and drama. This movie is a bit more predictable, but is still immensely satisfying and fun. Not every movie can or should change your life. Some should just be a fun, entertaining diversion, which is what this movie is. I can’t wait to see it again.