Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors. He consistently delivers a solid performance, can play a wide range of characters, is handsome, and can get a laugh from the audience. In the Equalizer, Washington plays Robert McCall, a kind and methodical man who seems to lead an ordinary, but lonely life. This all changes when Teri, a young prostitute played by Chloë Grace Moretz, is badly beaten and hospitalized. He feels the need to help her because he can. He approaches the men responsible and offers them payment for her freedom. When they decline and McCall gets a true sense of what lies ahead for Teri, he kills them. Under 30 seconds. He then unknowingly becomes the target of psycho Russian mob bad guy Teddy, played by Marton Csokas.
Both Csokas and Moretz give strong performances and are outstanding in their roles, but audiences will cheer for Washington as he takes on the bad guys in the many high energy action sequences. If you can’t handle violence, stay away from this movie. Bad guys will meet their maker through corkscrews, nail guns, and a power drill. It is not pretty.
The movie is set in Boston and I enjoyed the scenery shots in the film. Usually I dismiss those scenes as I open up my movie candy, but these shots were so beautiful that I took notice. Another thing I noticed was the lack of sex in the movie. Just about every R-rated movie these days offers audiences gratuitous nude scenes, but the Equalizer does not. Although there were some crude sexual references, there were zero sex scenes. This film relies on its exciting and tense storyline and the characters’ intensity to keep the audience glued to their seats. Sometimes, the action can get a little ridiculous, for example when Washington walks away effortlessly from several explosions, as if he isn’t aware that his pants are on fire (they’re not, but you get what I mean). But my husband reassures me that this is entirely plausible and 100% possible as he ranks The Equalizer in his Top Five Revenge Movies.
Synopsis: In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
View trailer here: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/theequalizer/
Opens today, September 26, 2014. Rated R with a running time of 131 minutes.
Thank you to our sponsor for the complimentary movie tickets.
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