Even liberals will like the action.

Rating: Null/10 (24 September 2014)

"The great and abiding lesson of American history, particularly the cold war, is that the engine of capitalism, the individual, is mightier than any collective." Rand Paul
He's not the detached Jason Bourne and he's not the swinging Bond, but Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is tougher than the two. A modest Home Mart employee, he has a past no one knows about. When asked by some young co-workers, he admits to being a "Pip," as in Gladys. So goes Robert's infrequent wit in the exciting The Equalizer, based on an ancient TV show.
Although he has a limited sense of humor, his past working for a federal investigative agency was intense and unusual enough that he went into a protection plan with a new life. While visiting a diner straight out of Hopper (he is a "nighthawk"), he meets very young escort Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz) and spends the rest of the movie revisiting his considerable killing skills to protect her.
So far nothing new except no romance, many clichés, and stereotypes (especially the Russian mobsters and their thugs). However Denzel brings a quiet competence and compassion to Robert's character despite kicking ass every few minutes. Thus, consider the relevance of Rand Paul's comment introducing this essay about the power of the individual. Liberals, however, will enjoy the action with its mixture of caring and retribution.
Interestingly, although the Equalizer doesn't stray far from the thriller formula, the characters are unique enough to enlist your sympathy, and we all know from our Greek dramas the importance of having sympathy for the hero.
One of the more fascinating motifs is creative killing, wherein at one point, the hero uses material in the home improvement building to take out the Russians. The killing is clean, there's little blood, and it's fun to watch if you enjoy that kind of thing.
Given the heat generated by Putin over the Ukraine, this smart film is prescient about the resurgence of Cold War situations and attitudes:
"The Cold War isn't thawing; it is burning with a deadly heat. Communism isn't sleeping; it is, as always, plotting, scheming, working, fighting." Richard Nixon