One-man army, Denzel Washington, kills, maims & blows stuff up without qualm.

Rating: 6/10 (24 October 2014)

This is NOT The Equalizer. Or rather, this is not the 1980s series staring the sorely missed Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a mysterious, retired intelligence officer putting good back into the world and helping innocent, helpless members of the public.
Antoine Fuqua's take on The Equalizer is little more than a substandard sequel to Tony Scott's Man on Fire with a one-man army exacting violent, bloody revenge and to hell with justice.
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a quiet, ordinary insomniac who spends his days working studiously at Home Mart helping his colleagues and generally being the all-round good guy. By night he is the quiet man in the corner of a café, eating pie, working his way through the 100 books everyone must read and interacting with the limited clientèle – just from a safe distance.
Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), is one of those fellow customers; a hooker controlled by violent Russian gangsters. When McCall watches her abused once too often by her pimps, he decides he must help no matter what the cost in blood and bullets.
Once upon a time, The Equalizer had some vague semblance of reality, or at least possibility. This is just a solo, unbeatable army on an excessive rampage with no compunction and no consequences whatsoever. There is no hint of cops or government agencies intervening in his reign of terror and no consideration for the time and planning it would take for McCall to lay such deadly booby traps and organize his DIY store war.
Essentially, The Equalizer is just one man shooting, killing, fighting and blowing sh*t up. McCall doesn't hide in the shadows, as the previous incarnation did, he lets it all hang out with the arrogance of a gangster and, plot spoiler alert, remains perfectly anonymous despite leaving rubble, corpses and explosions in his wake.
Forget reality, forget plot, forget any hope of reason or logic. Just put on your hardhat, buckle up, hide behind a riot shield and get on with the business of being thoroughly entertained.
Astoundingly, The Equalizer is rated just 15 meaning that parents can sneak older children/recent teenagers into this. How is that possible with the head smashing, gut spilling and excessive violence? Compare the content of this to that of Gone Girl, which garnered an 18 rating with little violence and just a quick bout of the C-word, and it's madness. What else does a film like The Equalizer have to do to warrant an 18 certificate?
Don't let lack of subtlety put you off. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and watching Denzel Washington play Denzel Washington being hard yet again. It's a formula that requires no thought and entertains easily enough. The violence, bloodshed and wanton brutality don't make this a bad film, just don't tell me it's The Equalizer.
Edward Woodward is turning in his grave.
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