Old School Action

Rating: 7/10 (21 November 2014)

A one man show from Denzel Washington in The Equaliser makes it an engaging action movie even though the film is too predictable and clichéd. Smart dialogues, old and conventional but good doses of action and above all a stylish performance from the Academy Award winner DW makes this film a watchable one. Robert McCall who is leading a quiet and peaceful life after retiring as a Black Ops Commando is forced out of his self imposed exile to get back to where he was and what he does best. On trying to help his female friend Alina who is a sex slave in the hands of her pimp, McCall confront and take down the Russian mafia single handedly to extract revenge.
Story wise, the film has nothing new to showcase but Washington deserves full marks to make the film a watchable one through his smart and stylish acting , action and dialogue presentation. Its not that we have action each and every scene but an action mood is created throughout the entire length of the film.
On the acting side, as said earlier its more or less a one man show from Denzel Washington and he is supported well by a host of other actors especially Marton Czokas enacting the character of Teddy the main henchman of Russian mafia don Pushkin.
Nice camera work and cuts along with impressive background score too. But the VFX had some drawbacks, to be specific the bombing scene of undercover building of the gangsters. The latter portions have been too stretched and deserved a trimming of ten to fifteen minutes.
Overall, here is a money worth old school action and revenge movie for a target audience that serves its purpose and i go with seven out of ten for The Equaliser. With a sequel in the early planning stages doing the talk, its better you get a feel of the movie now and get ready for more thrills.