The Equalizer (Feature)

One of the best movies ever made in my opinion with one of the best actors to ever do it!! Denzel Washington is charismatic and lethal. Some of the greatest action scenes in any movie!!!

Just an absolutely good hard-hitting movie, and because of this movie, I read the book, Old Man and the Sea in one day. It's only about 78 pages, pretty easy to read And a good little sea adventure story.

Good movie

Great film!

For me, The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington was probably the best all around action movie of the year, just edging out John Wick with Keanu Reeves in it. The reason it beat out John Wick was because this is also a thinking man's movie. By that I mean Denzel Washington gives meaning to his character with just the simple expression of his eyes. He doesn't have to say anything or do anything. You can actually tell he's giving the situation some careful consideration before he moves into action such as when he first takes out Russian thugs in the office in back of the lounge. He opens the door of the office to leave two or three times, trying to make an important decision. It's certainly a tough one to make. Should he kill the men in the room and then deal with the consequences, or just walk away and hope for the best? When the camera focuses on his eyes, you can see him thinking long and hard. This is acting at its very best. There's a reason why Denzel Washington has won two Oscars during his career, and it's still a long ways from being over. In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays Robert McCall, who works in a Home Depot-type of store, selling lumber and supplies for construction, or just fixing things around the house. At night he has trouble sleeping and visits the local diner where he has a cup of coffee and reads quietly to himself. It's also the hangout for Teri or is it Elena, played exquisitely by Chloe Grace Moretz, a young prostitute who turns all of her money over to the Russian mafia. She's inadvertently drawn to McCall because he treats her like a fellow human being and encourages her to better herself. A limousine stops in front of them one night when Teri is kind of walking McCall home. Her boss gets out of the car, along with an armed driver, and forces her into the backseat. Even then you can see Denzel thinking, "Should I or shouldn't I?" Teri attempts to resist, but they over power her and drive off. A few days later she ends up in the hospital, badly beaten. That's when Denzel Washington visits the Russians at the back of the lounge, offering them everything he has to buy Teri's freedom. When they refuse, he puts the money back into his pocket and prepares to leave. As he starts to leave the room, he opens and closes the office door a few times, making his famous "no turning back" decision. When he turns around and faces the men, he's calm and relaxed, knowing exactly what he has to do. He even looks at his watch and judges the amount of time it will take to kill them all. Though he's not as fast as in his younger days, McCall still manages to take out everyone in the office without breaking a sweat. As he tells the head mobster afterwards, "You should have taken the money." Of course, this is only the beginning. The head honcho over in Russian sends his top fixer (Teddy as played by Marton Csokas) to solve the problem. Even with him and a hand-picked crew of killers, they're no match for Denzel Washington, especially with the final sequence in a Home Depot. As Denzel Washington's ex-CIA handler tells her husband. "McCall wasn't coming to me for information. He was coming to get permission to kill them." That is when we learn that McCall's late wife died of cancer, and then he staged his own death so could leave the CIA without any problems. He also has a very special relationship with his handler (Susan Plummer) that reminded of the kind a mother and son usually have. The Equalizer did so well at the Box Office that the movie studio that made it, green-lighted the sequel. That usually takes a year or longer, but not this time. We should hopefully have another Equalizer film out in 2016. The regular DVD doesn't have much in the way of extras on it. It certainly has more than John Wick, but what little there is can be watched in ten minutes. I've read that the Blu-ray has more in the way of special features to watch, so I guess I'm going to have to get that one, too. Otherwise, a great action movie!

THE FILM: Directed by Antoine Fuqua and based on a 1980's TV show (which I haven't seen), THE EQUALIZER stars Denzel Washington as Robert McCall, a quiet man with a murky past who has a keen sense of justice and helps those in need. While this film could have been a pulpy, ultra-violent mess, the team of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington (who previously collaborated on TRAINING DAY) bring a sense of realism and attention to character that elevate this above your typical revenge action picture. As the title character, Denzel Washington brings gravitas and his usual "coolness" to the role of Robert McCall. He's a man of few words, and also one who is methodical and precise. He also has a good sense of right and wrong, which is why he does what he does, and not just in a violent way. He's a very friendly man who helps his friends and co-workers in other ways as well, i.e., training a fellow Home Mart employee for a security guard exam. One thing I really liked was the way in which you could tell what he was thinking by him just giving a look, and in fact, we are introduced to him in a largely wordless opening sequence. The film also stars Chloe Grace Moretz as Ilina/Teri, an underage Russian prostitute. While she did a great job portraying her character, she was little more than a plot device that springs McCall into action. I should also mention Marton Czokas as Teddy, a Russian heavy who is brought in to investigate after McCall kills several Russian pimps in retaliation for putting Ilina in the hospital (of course, after offering them a way out). He was the only other character besides McCall who really had any depth, and he brought a certain lethality and sadism to his character which contrasted nicely with McCall. Other than him, all of the villains were expendable and generic, which is unfortunate considering the quality filmmaking here. Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo also appeared in glorified cameos as a friendly couple tied to McCall's mysterious past. They weren't anything special, but it was nice to see them in the film. Regarding McCall's past, though, they don't really go into much detail but it wasn't too much of a big deal because it contributed to his overall mystique and kept the focus on his everyman persona. As far as the action and technical side of the film, it was well-staged and shot, and it looked like Denzel did most of his own stunts. The fights were up close and intimate, but it was still possible to tell what was going on from shot to shot as well as having a good sense of geography. However, for the most part, the violence was restrained and brutally efficient instead of lingering on it in a gratuitous way, which was true to the character of McCall. Overall, despite not delving too deeply into any of the characters but McCall, THE EQUALIZER is a good examination of a down-to-earth hero who does what he feels is right in order to level the playing field for those who are unable to help themselves. There's also a nice sub-message about being who you want to be in life and not letting others dictate that for you. It's one of the best action movies in a while, and a great re-teaming of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington, who appears here in top form. THE EXTRAS: There are a handful of featurettes which focus on various facets of the production, such as the character of Robert McCall as well as what Denzel Washington and Chloe Moretz did to prepare for their roles. There was also a couple of featurettes focusing on the director and the work that went into the action/fighting. To round things out, there was a short featurette on Chloe Moretz where she plugs for a sexual abuse hotline, Children of the Night, and an amusing 2-minute "commercial" for Home Mart that uses clips of the kills from the movie to demonstrate how good their customer service and products are. There was also a photo gallery with production stills and behind-the scenes pictures. Last, but not least, you can watch the film in "Vengeance Mode" which has Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua break down the moves used in the various action sequences. Altogether, a fairly handsome package for a great film. OVERALL: This film was unfortunately one I missed when it was in theaters, but thankfully that has been rectified by seeing it at home. Denzel Washington created a compelling, badass character, and the film manages to be rather smart despite the subject material. Not only that, but there is a decent amount of supplementary material to deepen your appreciation and understanding. If you're a Denzel fan, or an action fan in general, I highly recommend buying this. You won't be disappointed.

Best movie

I don't write long reviews for two reasons, most movies don't warrant them, and other people think highly enough of their opinions they cover that niche well enough there is no need for me to contribute. I only point that out because I'd like to write a long review here and detail just how incredible I found this movie, especially for the genre it hails from. Action movies are an interesting breed, they can be engaging, from any number of perspectives, but ultimately the question is "what was the body count?" The Equalizer, is in my opinion, one of those rare action flicks that engages you on multiple levels and has a sizable body count. Denzel's character is as deep as he needs to be, you get the point, he was a bad man for the Government for a long time, he's a little older now, he's suffered some personal tragedy, and he's just trying to live a quiet life forgetting all that. But, sometimes you are faced with a situation you can't ignore, because you're the only one that cares enough to fix it. That's the point here. I really found it very interesting, because it's essentially a tale about how heroes never really quit being heroes, and the worst of us can use our experiences to the betterment of the world. Nearly every action film you see, is the young guy, fresh out of the academy, saving the world and winning the girl. Denzel's character I think is obviously that guy from many other movies, but 20-30 years later. After he got the girl, after he saved the world, after he was tired, after she died, after he just wanted to melt into obscurity. But the right situation calls him out again, he might not be the guy that saves the world anymore, but dismantling a single organization? Yeah, he can do that, and make it wonderfully entertaining. I highly suggest this film, I'm usually not super smitten with action films, and tend to rate really good ones in the 3-4 star category depending on whether or not the selling point was combat or explosions. This has both of those, on top of great characters (who could have honestly used a little more depth, I would have liked it if they'd explained some of the Russian culture displayed on Teddy) and a lot of very concise, to the point violence, displayed by both the protagonist, and the antagonist, in ways that further display who they are. Order some pizza, some drinks, get a pretty woman to hang out with you, and watch this on a low key Friday night for full effect.