Washington's stealthy good in a tailor-made adaptation of the cult '80s TV series

Rating: 8/10 (26 September 2014)

THE EQUALIZER (2014) *** Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Haley Bennett. Big-screen loose adaptation of the cult '80s TV series with Edward Woodward tailored to the finesse of slow-burn Washington as an ex-CIA op whose attempt to keep a low-profile is thwarted when a young prostitute (Moretz) is endangered by her pimp who turns out to be knee-deep involved with the Russian mob who wants vengeance swiftly (and painfully) led by glowering Csokas (a shark in a silk suit incarnate). Washington in in superb form and reunited with skillful filmmaker Antoine Fuqua (who collaborated on TRAINING DAY which scored Washington his Best Actor Oscar) with stealth and lethal ease and a sharp and grittily dark screenplay by Richard Wenk.