[yasr_overall_rating]
Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
Denzel Washington is one of the last remaining true Hollywood icons. Like Harrison Ford and Kevin Costner, his movies are always enjoyable, especially the action ones. His turn as the lead in the remake of “The Magnificent Seven” was, in this critic’s opinion, even better than the original and while “The Equalizer,” which came out in 2014, was solid enough, it was just short of being great. Antoine Fuqua returns to the director’s chair and surprisingly, this is Mr. Washington’s first ever sequel throughout his illustrious career. Both men have worked together numerous times before, on the aforementioned “The Equalizer” and “The Magnificent Seven” as well as “Training Day,” which garnered Mr. Washington an Oscar for his mesmerizing performance as a crooked cop.
In “The Equalizer 2,” Robert McCall (Washington), a retired CIA black ops operative who faked his death long ago so he could live a quiet and peaceful life in Boston, continues to help people in dire need. Whether it is tracking down a man from the Middle East who has kidnapped his American daughter or assisting a young black neighbor who gets mixed up with the wrong gang, McCall is an angel in disguise for those fortunate enough to seek him out. With his wife having passed away many years ago, he pretty much keeps to himself and does not set out to make new friends, his life is simple, just how he likes it. His only true friend is Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), who still works for the CIA and who helped McCall fake his death. When he needs help tracking down bad guys, Susan is able to assist him and give him vital information in order to achieve his objective. In return, he helps her out with covert missions when needed.
After the brutal killing of a family in Brussels who had ties to the CIA, Susan and her partner Dave (Pedro Pascal), investigate the crime scene and while inspecting the evidence, something doesn’t sit right with Susan and she informs Dave. Planning to dig deeper into the case, both of them make their way back to the hotel as they are scheduled to fly back to the U.S. the next day but Susan is attacked in her room by two men and subsequently killed. When word gets back to Robert, he is heartbroken that his only real friend is now gone but he takes it upon himself to study her crime scene, utilizing photos and video footage obtained from the hotel. As he continues to study the primary elements of her attack, taking into consideration the initial report stating that the two men who killed her were looking for money, he notices in the elevator video footage that one of the men pressed the exact floor number that Susan was staying on before she had a chance to press the button herself and Robert quickly realizes that it was no random mugging gone bad but that they knew who she was and where she was staying.
Robert reaches out to Dave, who he was partners with many years ago in the agency and naturally, assuming that he was dead all this time, Dave is pleasantly surprised. Robert goes over all his findings in regards to Susan’s death and Dave tells him that he will look into it. A few days later, however, Robert picks up a passenger in his Uber car and the man tries to kill him but Robert gets the upper hand and takes him out. He quickly surmises that the only other person who knew where he lived, was Dave so he confronts him in his own home and quickly comprehends that he is the traitor that had Susan killed. With Dave’s wife and two young daughters around, Robert leaves and makes his way back to the old house that he used to live in with his wife by the ocean in New Hampshire, and as one of the biggest storms in U.S. history comes ashore, Dave and his men follow him with the intent of wiping him out but they quickly learn that Robert has a few tricks left up his sleeve.
The movie packs quite a wallop and doesn’t shy away from moments of brutal violence, sometimes lingering on it to let it sink in so that your disdain for the bad guys grows so when Robert exacts his revenge against them for their actions, you cheer him on. What the movie successfully achieves, is a level of emotional drama. Robert lives in a small, unassuming apartment and he uses Uber to meet people, some whom he has helped out of precarious situations, others, he just drives to their final destinations. We meet a lot of the various characters that come in and out of his life and it gives him a sense of purpose. Retired, he doesn’t just sit at home watching TV, he likes to interact with his neighbors but does so cautiously as he tries not to get too close to anybody for fear of something happening to them, a result of his past. Director Antoine Fuqua ups the ante, filling the story with more emotion, drama, and action than its predecessor, allowing Robert time to be pertinent with all three elements. While the trailer makes this out to be a big non-stop action thrill ride, just know in advance, it is not. It is an exceptionally well-told drama with moments of tragedy, levity, violence, and astonishing action.
In theaters Friday, July 20th
