The Equalizer

Wednesday night and what better way to spend it than with a packed lunch and an action type thriller film. This evening we went to see what 'The Equalizer' was all about...

'The Equalizer' ('The Equaliser' if you want it the British way) is an American Thriller film based on the TV series of the same name. Denzel Washington takes on the role of Robert McCall, a retired government agent currently working in a homeware/hardware store. Since working in the store McCall has befriended and is rather popular amongst his fellow colleagues. He is helping one particular colleague, Ralphie, as he tries to train himself up to become a security guard at the store. Robert seems to be a perfectly normal old guy working in a hardware store but behind the scenes he is a meticulous planner capable of serving justice to wronged innocent people. Robert spends his evenings reading in a café close to where he lives. He is on a mission to complete the '100 books to read before you die' as homage to his late wife who was recently trying the feat. Over time Robert has grown to know some of the customers, in particular a young Russian prostitute named Alina. She is being mistreated by her pimp and after one near fatal incident Robert decides to ditch the vow he had made to his wife and seek vengeance on behalf of Alina. As Robert gets deeper and deeper into the web of criminals how far will he go to 'Equalize' the score?

 

Again I'm not a huge fan of action thriller, they either grab my attention and hold it, or I end up sleeping through the second half. This film had me hooked from the first action scene. Washington was sensational as Robert. He held my attention as he gave me genuine belief in this Robin Hood type guy. The film was well paced with just enough content and no long drawn out fight scenes. Speaking of fight scenes, good god the scenes in this were incredible, something I'm not usually a fan of. My only criticism with this film would be the lack of back story. It is briefly brushed over here and there but it is so few and far between. I would have liked a scene, possibly a flashback, looking into what Robert was like in the past. Shout out to Chloë Grace Moretz who played Alina so well. It's hard to make you root for a prostitute usually but I felt for this girl and found her character very likeable. Again though it's a shame we didn't see much of her back story. Having said all of this negative about back stories, I did love this film and will definitely watch it again in the future.

 

7.5/10 for 'The Equalizer' which places it at number 22 currently on the 2014 League Table placing it just below '22 Jump Street'. It could easily have earned a higher spot on the league, if only the main character's back story had been explored in more depth. Possibly in the potential sequel? Go see this if you liked Taken, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit or The Sweeney.