Long, Dumb and not so Fun

Rating: 3/10 (20 September 2014)

In 2003 while Denzel Washington was promoting his dumb but fun thriller Out of Time he gave an interview stating how it was nice to star in a film that didn't require him to do too much. Coming off the back of his 2002 Oscar win for Training Day, Washington didn't exactly sugar coat the idea that Out of Time was a pay check gig pure and simple. Since then Denzel's film choices have seemed littered with these quick cash movies. For every Man on Fire or Inside Man we get a Safe House or last year's forgettable 2 Guns. The Equalizer sees Washington re-team for the first time since 2002 with Training day Director Antoine Fuqua. Audience's hoping to see a return to form from the Training day duo maybe disappointed. The Equalizer feels like another pay check gig, it certainly is dumb it lacks any of the fun of Out of Time...And that movie stared Dean Cain.
The Equalizer is a remake in name only of the 80's television series of the same name. The show starred Edward Woodard as a retired government agent turned private detective. He spends each episode helping people similar to the A-team or Highway to Heaven. It was never a show I was practically aware of but it seemed to be stable Television for my parents growing up. The 2014 version sees Washington play Robert McCall, a mysterious quiet man who gets sucked back into his old violent ways while trying to help out a number of people in his life. These people include a young prostitute played by Chloe Grace Moretz. She is under the control of the Russian Mafia who doesn't take to kindly to their business being interrupted. If the plot synopsis sounds familiar it's because it's the basic premise for most Steven Segal movies or any action movie in the 80's. Don't get me wrong The Equalizer is far better than any Half Past Dead or Exit Wounds (maybe not Under Siege) but it is the first sign that this long awaited big screen Equalizer lacks any sort of Originality. Antoine Fuqua with the exception of Training Day has never really dazzled on the big screen. Films like Shooter and Tears of the Sun look the part but never really excite as action films. The Equalizer is no different. Long when it should be tight and loud when it should be quiet. The Equalizer is a bit like a spinning plate. It starts off straight before quickly wobbling then completely crashing to the ground. Fuqua and writer Richard Wenk should take the full brunt of this. The script feels like it should have undergone another re-write, you can feel every minute of the films 131 min running time. In an effort to include elements of the show Denzel finds himself helping multiple characters during the movies 2nd act. Great for them but this puts the main plot on hold killing all momentum. At one stage Washington leaves the film altogether to meet with old work friends (sorely underused Melissa Leo and Bill Pullman) for a scene that does not add to the story in any way. Elements are brought up but never go anywhere. It is eluded that his Character has OCD but this is never established and appears and re-appears at random. All this makes the film disjointed and adds to the already bloated running time.
At this point you could forgive all this because it is an action film and you paid to see Denzel kick ass and take names. Unfortunately Fuqua drops the ball in this department also. An initial confrontation with Russian heavies is well shot for maxim tension but quickly unravels once the action starts. The film feels like it's edited in an attempt to cut around some of the violence and this makes the fight scenes seem clunky. It doesn't help that it is so poorly let, a similar compliant that was leveled against Fuqua last film Olympus has fallen.
Denzel is always a watchable presence no matter what he is in and here it is no different. Unfortunately the screen play doesn't give him much of a character to work with. The story goes out of its way to keep his character a mystery, we learn next to nothing about him which makes it difficult to root for him. He just comes across as bored or uninterested. He does get some moments to shine and he is a warm presence in the his scenes with Chloe Grace Moretz. Moretz here is excellent in the role bringing a real vulnerability as a young Russian Call girl and the late night conversations they share about books (although very on the nose) are engaging. She brings a real heart to the film which is sadly lost when she is sidelined for the bulk of the running time. Without her Washington's character has no one to bounce off. He just becomes a bore.
It would be easy to compare this film to Tony Scott's excellent Man on Fire and the marketing has gone to some length to draw a similarity between the two. Man on fire succeeded because Tony Scott was wise enough to spend an hour of the running time building a relationship between the two leads. Denzel's anger and revenge seems justified. In the Equalizer it feels like Fuqua skips through this stuff to get to the money shots. It's interesting that both films contain a shot of the lead character walking away from an Explosion, In Man on Fire it's a moment which signifies the storm that is to come and the level of violence he is willing to go to. In the Equalizer it's a hollow eye rolling moment thrown in just because it looks cool. It kind of sums up the whole film. (D)