Denzel
Washington is great, isn't he? Throughout his thirty-odd years in the
industry he's portrayed good guys, bad guys, flawed guys and even
real guys, with his portrayal of Malcolm X encapsulating all of those
things. With The
Equalizer,
Washington plays the nicest guy you could hope to meet, you just
wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of him or he'll kill you. And
boy, does he know a lot of ways to do that.
Crucially,
though, there's more to Washington's Robert McCall. He's a quiet man,
who likes to look after his body, read and help people out. It's
these minor details that make his character all the more interesting
to watch. It also makes it all the more shocking when he's sticking
corkscrews, drills and anything sharp he can find in people. He
likes people, with him using his day job to kid around with the staff
and help a chubby colleague lose some weight to get the new job he
wants. The nicest aspect to McCall is his determination to read the
“100 books you need to read before you die” as a tribute to his
late wife, who was working through the list herself before she
passed. It's a sweet character moment we don't often get with most
action flicks preoccupied with jamming as many action set-pieces as
they can. Non-stop action can often be monotonous and that's
something Fuqua seems to understand this.
We
spend a lot of time getting to know McCall before anythin actually
starts to happen, which is a really nice touch. In fact, the entire
first third plays out like a short film – and a very impressive one
at that. It's almost perfect. It has the rise and fall, story
telling and the character development is fantastic. The first action
scene doesn't happen for a while, but when it does come it has more
of an impact as we've gotten to know McCall.
The
action is very distinctive too, with guns replaced for a more up
close, brutal beat down technique opted for by Fuqua. McCall goes
through sledgehammer's, nail guns, broken glass and a lot, lot more.
It's so refreshing to see an action film that doesn't hold back. The
blood splatters, the necks crack and people die... A LOT.
If
The Equalizer has any problems at all, it's that McCall is almost too
unstoppable. He's never in danger and he's always in control of the
situation and as an audience it makes it hard to feel much tension
when you know that he's got everything covered.
There's
also some very strange scripting problems where the plot wanders
somewhere else that doesn't really have much to do with the
narrative. There's a scene where a crook comes into the hardware
store where McCall works and steals money from the register only to
be stopped by McCall later on which is very strange. It breaks up the
flow of the film and does nothing for the story or his character.
Another scene is where McCall visits old friends to get 'information'
that he already knew.
Other
than that, though, The Equalizer surprised me. It packs a punch with
some of the most impressive action sequences I've seen for a while,
but it also has character and heart. I think this could have
franchise potential and I really wouldn't say no to an Equalizer 2.
