Movie Review: Denzel Murders, Monologues and Moralises in "The Equalizer 2"

The Equalizer 2 marks Denzel Washington’s first sequel, and like the sugar substitute it (practically) shares a name with, it’s close enough to the original, if lacking something.

When it was announced the legendary Denzel Washington would be breaking his career-long standalone film streak with a sequel to The Equalizer, it was hardly a surprise. After all, he’s been happily alternating awards-worthy dramas with 'man goes on a righteous shooting spree' action films for decades.

By sequelising The Equalizer, Denzel has given himself a franchise wherein he can consistently murder, monologue and moralise. That last part of the equation is key, seeing as how he hasn’t been able to do the latter as the compromised antiheroes from Man on Fire or Safe House. But as the unkillable ex-CIA operative Robert McCall—who doles out violent vigilante justice in a manner that is often hilariously, exaggeratedly, not-at-all equal to the corresponding crime—he gets to kill baddies and conduct community service at the same time.

Of course, someday soon, as gun violence rises both at home and abroad, we’re gonna have to reckon with cinema’s continued promotion of the "good guy with a gun" myth. Denzel seems aware of this reckoning too. In The Equalizer 2, McCall pulls a promising teenage artist (Ashton Sanders) out of a gang, yelling at him, "Man ain’t spelt G-U-N, son," before handing over a copy of Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. In the last movie, he even helped a young security guard lose weight and pass his qualification exam. Are we certain Denzel isn’t just using these flicks to conduct youth outreach, co-star by co-star?

Antoine Fuqua—who previously worked with Denzel on Training Day, The Magnificent Seven and The Equalizer—returns as director, though this is easily his lowest-energy effort in eons. The Equalizer 2 has a promising opening, with screenwriter Richard Wenk (or perhaps those behind the scenes responsible for product placement) making McCall a Lyft driver, allowing him to overhear transgressions at the street level, leading to a satisfying beat-down of some trust fund bros who dumped a drugged girl in his car.

But when his old CIA colleague Sarah (Melissa Leo) is murdered in mysterious circumstances, Fuqua and Wenk take way too long to put the despondent Robert into action. They instead have him circle a narrative drain, conducting a tedious and obvious investigation that does little except stretch the runtime.

It’s only when he finally confronts the surprise (depending on how easily you’re surprised) villains to inform them they’re going to die that our neck-hairs tingle again. This showdown builds to a stylish, video game-mimicking shootout in an evacuated, storm-thrashed seaside town, where you get to see McCall harpoon someone, and trick someone else into blowing a hole in their own stomach. And as hokey and overlong and misshapen as The Equalizer 2 is prior to this point, it’s a cinematic pleasure to watch a superheroic Denzel walk untroubled through the elements. 

By comparison, you feel a little concerned for the storm.

3/5

In Australian cinemas now. Rated MA15+ for strong violence.

Header Image: Sony Pictures