The Equalizer

Denzel Washington (Training Day, American Gangster) promises to be a thinking man’s combat hero in this action-packed reboot of an 80s classic. 

Denzel Washington plays former black ops commando Robert McCall who, having faked his death for a quiet life as a shop assistant, is forced to come out of retirement to rescue a friend from the fate of Russian gangsters. 

Although The Equalizer opened at the Toronto International Film Festival and is directed by critically acclaimed Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), it holds no pretentions as to what it purports to be: an action franchise for Washington, to match Liam Neeson’s Taken series. The script, written by Expendables 2’s Richard Wenk, is sure to provide similarly explosive story lines and larger than life characters. Hungarian actor Marton Csokas (The Lord of The Rings, Bourne Supremacy) leads the Russian mobsters whom Washington’s former CIA boss (Melissa Leo) assures him are untouchable. However, when the gangsters decide to abuse Washington’s friend, a teenage prostitute named Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick Ass, Hugo), they cross a line that will unleash the killing machine lying dormant in Washington’s retired, trivial existence. Climaxing in a pandemonium-filled action sequence located in Langley itself, The Equalizer is sure to keep audiences on the edge of their seats. 

Wenk’s previous credits have little proof of durability when compared to the much-coveted status of Neeson’s Taken series, yet critics are already excited by The Equalizer’s prospects. With the brooding intensity and intellect of Washington’s performance, coupled with Fuqua’s flair for action, many bloggers have likened The Equalizer to John McTierman’s Die Hard franchise. Could Washinton’s Robert McCall prove a worthy successor to Bruce Willis’s iconic wife-beater sporting John McClane? It’s certainly been a long time in the waiting, time will soon tell.