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A sturdy, highly watchable revenge thriller elevated by Denzel Washington’s calm, lethal charisma and Fuqua’s efficient action staging. It’s often corny and mechanically plotted, but the precision, violence, and oddball charm make it an easy cable rewatch.
Where to watch: Buy
Wed · 2h 12m
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz
McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
Antoine Fuqua
Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz
A sturdy, highly watchable revenge thriller elevated by Denzel Washington’s calm, lethal charisma and Fuqua’s efficient action staging. It’s often corny and mechanically plotted, but the precision, violence, and oddball charm make it an easy cable rewatch.
The Equalizer works best as a star vehicle, and Denzel Washington knows exactly how to turn a familiar vigilante setup into something cool, controlled, and a little mythic. McCall is introduced as a man trying to live quietly, but the movie is really about the pleasure of watching competence return in carefully measured bursts. Fuqua stages the violence cleanly and gives the action a tactile, almost procedural feel that makes every improvised weapon land with extra satisfaction.
The script is blunt and sometimes ridiculous, but that bluntness is part of the appeal. It’s a movie that wants you to enjoy the rhythm of escalation: the patient setup, the public humiliation of bad guys, the sudden eruptions of brutality, and the increasingly elaborate traps. That can make it feel less like a thriller than a fantasy of righteous retaliation, but the movie commits hard enough that the fantasy mostly works.
What keeps it from being more than a very good genre machine is that it rarely surprises emotionally. Still, as a piece of polished, late-era studio action with a memorable lead and a strong sense of place, it’s easy to recommend to anyone who likes their revenge stories efficient, nasty, and just a little absurd.
demi adejuyigbe · 4603 likes
motherfucker doesn't say "you're about to get equalized" even ONCE
Matt Singer (3.5★) · 2606 likes
This is what is going to happen. This ridiculous, hilarious movie is going to play on cable. You are going to reluctantly watch it. You're going to end up watching the whole thing even though you have other things to do. Then it's going to play on cable again, and you're going to watch it again, particularly the later scenes when it basically becomes HOME ALONE in Home Depot (a.k.a. Home Depot Alone). You are going to repeat this several
Joe A (3.5★) · 1397 likes
Denzel kills people with various tools whilst inside a knockoff Home Depot to a song called “Vengeance”. It’s corny but works for 2 reasons: - it’s violent- Denzel fucking sells it. Good movie.
fran hoepfner (3★) · 1044 likes
I love when the equalizer takes Boston public transportation
David Sims (3★) · 787 likes
he literally protec but also attac
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vigilantism, revenge, rescue mission, hidden past, urban crime, justice, loner hero, protecting the vulnerable
action thriller, crime drama, vigilante, revenge, grim tone, stylized violence, late-night cable, urban noir, 2010s, star vehicle