• Home
  • Classic Reviews
  • 2015 Reviews
  • 2016 Reviews
  • 2017 Reviews
  • 2018 Reviews
  • 2019 Reviews
  • 2020 Reviews
  • 2021 Reviews
  • 2022 Reviews
  • 2023 Reviews
  • 2024 Reviews
  • 2025 Reviews
  • Movie Talk
  • Fan Fictions
    • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Ultimate Ed-Chronicles >
      • The 'Beginnings' Saga >
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Rise of Maleficent >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Rise of Maleficent Full Movie
        • Transformers: Legend of the Black Cauldron >
          • Transformers: Legend of the Black Cauldron Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets the Penguins of Madagascar >
          • EEEMTPOM Full Movie
        • The Eds and Iron Man: Dawn of the Blowhole >
          • The Eds and Iron Man Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Fast and the Furious >
          • EEE: The Fast and the Furious Full Movie
        • The Eds and Kung Fu Panda: Battle for China >
          • The Eds and Kung Fu Panda Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy and the Lion King: The Full Circle >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy and the Lion King Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets Thumbelina: Revenge of the Shredder >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets Thumbelina Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: Journey to Neverland >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: Journey to Neverland Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: All Tangled Up >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: All Tangled Up Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure Chapter One Full Movie
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure Chapter Two Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Edventures in San Fransokyo
      • The 'Avengers' Saga
      • Fastformers: Rio Heist
      • The Loud Ghostbusters
  • Contact
  • About

The Equalizer 2 (2018)

7/20/2018

0 Comments

 
Picture
“The Equalizer 2” stars Denzel Washington, Ashton Sanders, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman.  Released on July 20, 2018, the film has Robert McCall seeking the perpetrators who murdered his longtime friend.

The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who also directed films such as “The Replacement Killers”, “Training Day”, and “Southpaw”.  It is a sequel to the 2014 film, “The Equalizer”, which is based on the 1980s television series of the same name created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim.  This weekend brings us plenty of sequels that will cater to their different types of audiences, including action fans, musical fans, and horror fans.  Today, we’re going to start things off with a thrilling follow-up to a television-to-film adaptation.  Antoine Fuqua revived the 1980s show for a new generation of fans with the 2014 adaptation, which was a box office success despite receiving mixed reviews.  I did remember liking the first film because of Washington’s performance and its style, but I haven’t gone back to it that much since then.  It might be because of the film’s running time and pacing.  This thrilling sequel reunites Fuqua with Denzel Washington (one of my mother’s favorite actors), who’s making his first ever sequel debut since the actor is known for only starring in original films.  Will they be enough to generate an entertaining follow-up?  Let’s find out. 

Washington reprises his role as Robert McCall, a former CIA agent who now works as a Lyft driver while also continuing to help people with their unfortunate issues.  When he discovers that one of his friends, Susan Plummer (Leo), was killed, McCall sets out on a revenge-filled journey to bring the assailants to justice.  In other words, it’s a by-the-numbers thriller that happens to be over two hours long.  It might not work out for some people who wanted something new from the formula, but for Washington fans, it packs an enjoyable, but painless, punch.  Washington delivered another engaging performance as McCall, proving once again that his charisma can handle the action genre just as well as it can handle drama.  If you like him in his other roles, I can bet that his performance in this film will easily win you over.  Antoine Fuqua is always known for helming films that involve brutal violence and some stylish angles, and this film appears to be no different.  Although the amount of action is very limited, the way they shot those sequences were pretty clean and swift (and also very violent).  It’s pretty much what you would expect from a thriller that has Denzel Washington beating up people, but again, it might not impress everybody.  One of the reasons why would have to be the running time.  For a simplistic plot like this, I’m not entirely sure that it needed to be that long, especially since it has more dialogue than action.  I don’t know what I would cut out since they’re crucial to the story, but I do know that those who wanted a short and fast-paced action thrill ride may find it either slow or a bit too long.  Another reason would have to be its plot.  The film does involve McCall searching for the people responsible for murdering his friend, but it also has a subplot that involves him and his relationship with a young man named Miles Whittaker, who was portrayed very well by Ashton Sanders.  Even though that subplot connects to the main storyline during the third act and doesn’t slow the film down at all, I felt that it would’ve worked as a separate film.  During the first two acts, it felt like it is switching from one film to the other every now and then instead of only focusing on one, which may get a bit confusing for people who are only seeing this for the revenge thriller plot.  I don’t know, that’s just how I see it.  The way they work these two stories together was suitable and generous, but in terms of its character-driven moments, it’s not enough to throw the film’s usual revenge tropes out the window.

Overall, “The Equalizer 2” is an enjoyable follow-up that once again showcases Denzel Washington seeking justice.  As its own film, however, it’s another typical revenge thriller that deals with style trying to overweigh its average storytelling.  I did manage to have a nice time watching this film despite its flaws, although it would be hard for me to recommend it to those who prefer a perfect mixture of style and substance.  However, I can recommend it to people who enjoy Denzel Washington and his films.
Picture

C+

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Home of the most friendly movie reviews on the planet.

    Categories

    All
    2015 Reviews
    2016 Reviews
    2017 Reviews
    2018 Reviews
    2019 Reviews
    2020 Reviews
    2021 Reviews
    2022 Reviews
    2023 Reviews
    2024 Reviews
    2025 Reviews
    Classic Reviews
    Movie Talk
    The Oscars

    Follow Me

    Exclusive stuff on Patreon
    Follow me on Twitch
Copyright © 2015
  • Home
  • Classic Reviews
  • 2015 Reviews
  • 2016 Reviews
  • 2017 Reviews
  • 2018 Reviews
  • 2019 Reviews
  • 2020 Reviews
  • 2021 Reviews
  • 2022 Reviews
  • 2023 Reviews
  • 2024 Reviews
  • 2025 Reviews
  • Movie Talk
  • Fan Fictions
    • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Ultimate Ed-Chronicles >
      • The 'Beginnings' Saga >
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Rise of Maleficent >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Rise of Maleficent Full Movie
        • Transformers: Legend of the Black Cauldron >
          • Transformers: Legend of the Black Cauldron Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets the Penguins of Madagascar >
          • EEEMTPOM Full Movie
        • The Eds and Iron Man: Dawn of the Blowhole >
          • The Eds and Iron Man Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Fast and the Furious >
          • EEE: The Fast and the Furious Full Movie
        • The Eds and Kung Fu Panda: Battle for China >
          • The Eds and Kung Fu Panda Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy and the Lion King: The Full Circle >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy and the Lion King Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets Thumbelina: Revenge of the Shredder >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy meets Thumbelina Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: Journey to Neverland >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: Journey to Neverland Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy: All Tangled Up >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy: All Tangled Up Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure >
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure Chapter One Full Movie
          • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Frozen Adventure Chapter Two Full Movie
        • Ed, Edd n Eddy's Edventures in San Fransokyo
      • The 'Avengers' Saga
      • Fastformers: Rio Heist
      • The Loud Ghostbusters
  • Contact
  • About