Not too shabby for Denzel's retired assassin take

Rating: 7/10 (22 March 2020)

Denzel Washington is a great actor but gets saddled with sub par material half the time. He's again teamed with director Antoine Fuqua who is also hit and miss with his movies. The trailer looked promising so I bought my ticket expecting awesome entertainment and this did not disappoint. This is Denzel's take on the retired assassin genre kick started by Liam Neeson's Taken. It's not as action packed or intense as Taken but it's not too bad. Rote story but pretty good action and fight choreography. What really elevates this movie is the depth of characterization given to the baddies especially his chief nemesis who he battles at the end. Without that characterization it's just mindless mowing down of bad guys which gets boring like in the Magnificent 7, again same director. This is a good action film but skip the sequel which is just a lazy cash grab.