The Equalizer 2 Movie Review - An understated though riveting thriller

Denzel Washington in a still from The Equalizer 2 trailer

The Equalizer 2
U/A; Action, Crime, Thriller
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders
Rating:

Denzel Washington's very first sequel appearance features ex-CIA agent Robert McCall's return to onscreen vigilantism. Given that the original 2014 film, based on the mid-Eighties television show of the same name, was a box-office hit, this was an expected, I guess.

The first film had Washington as Robert McCall, working at a big box store who just happened to have the skills-sets ready to be deployed against the unwary criminal. In this film he works as a Lyft driver while continuing to moonlight as a vigilante when his only true friends Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), a former agency colleague who is the only person who knows he is still alive, and her husband Brian (Bill Pullman) get into trouble.

He, of course, continues to come across unsavoury characters - the opening sequence has him on a train bound for Istanbul, brutally dispatching a group of brutish kidnappers all too easily and with minimal fuss. In the course of the film, he also tries to help an elderly Lyft customer (Orson Bean) recover a painting stolen from his family by the Nazis and mentors a neighbour's teen, Miles (Ashton Sanders) away from drugs and gangsters.

Watch the trailer of The Equalizer 2:

The screenplay by Richard Wenk while not overtly dramatic, lays out a tapestry of righteousness that is definitely appealing. A few elements here might seem like clichés but they are utilized in a refreshing, contained manner, allowing for very little clutter. McCall as a lone samurai, living a self-contained ascetic lifestyle is still appealing. Fuqua's treatment is clean and spare, lending the narrative a monk-like calm which erupts sporadically-only when required. Composer Harry Gregson-Williams takes a few leafs out of Stuart Copeland's Equalizer music but largely creates his own rhythm - which makes for an interesting interpretation of mood and moments. Oliver Wood's camerawork evokes the fury of the hurricane in the climax to rousing effect. Even though there's no great flurry of high-end action here, this film still manages to be a riveting thriller!

Also Read: Denzel Washington's Film The Equalizer 2 Is His First Sequel In Career Of 40 Years

Catch up on all the latest entertainment news and gossip here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates