If you're ready to forgive some stupidities, you're good to go.

Rating: 6/10 (14 August 2015)

First things first: "The Equalizer" has nothing to do with the TV series. The main character's name (McCall) is the same, but that's it. If you're looking for some nostalgia, you won't find it here.
This is a simple action thriller along the lines of most revenge movies, with very traditional strengths and weaknesses. I'll keep it short this time.
Strengths: Denzel Washington has presence. He doesn't even have to act, it's enough that he's just there. The movie is R-rated, which is always a plus. The main bad guy (Marton Csokas) has plenty of charisma. This film as well as the action is well shot, there is a lot of "cool factor" and director Antoine Fuqua knows the beats of this genre. This movie is straightforward, well enough paced and easy to follow.
Weaknesses: While there are plenty of cool shots, effects and sound, it's often used just for the hell of it. Even the music seems to serve the coolness and individual scene composition, not the movie itself. All of this takes you out of the movie a couple of times. "Equalizer" has more style than substance, and while the script does what it's supposed to do, a lot of subtleties are wasted in the execution. Much of some well-created suspense (as well as any impact of Csokas' character) is gone when it becomes clear that Denzel Washington's McCall can handle any situation with ease. Sometimes when McCall is fighting one enemy out of ten, the whole world stops around him until enemy number one is dealt with. These are the kinds of clichés you will have to deal with.
Summary: This is not an intelligent movie, I'd say even Taken is more believable. Much of the buildup is eventually wasted, as the promising thriller-aspect of the movie decides to just go away and make room for consequence-free action. Suspension of disbelief is a must, but for the fans of some oldschool, simple action movies that aren't PG13-pussified, I'd give a recommendation. I enjoyed it for what it was to some extent. I listed far more negatives than positives, but the good moments were good enough to tip the scale more to my liking. I was never bored, and Denzel Washington killing bad guys can be a nice form of movie therapy.
In the sequel, I hope they manage to make a tighter movie that knows what it is, and hold the suspense to the very end. At least make McCall less of a superman.