Meet the inverted Caspar Milquetoast, a man who speaks softly and hits with a mighty big stick.

Rating: 9/10 (21 November 2014)

Denzel Washington plays the title role as Robert McCall. In this reincarnation of the Edward Woodward TV series (1985), there is no Jaguar for McCall to move around NYC, as a suave, well dressed guy with a British accent. Instead, Washington's McCall gets around Boston by walking and public transportation. He is a very average guy who keeps to himself, lives modestly, and works at Home Mart, a Hollywood version of Home Depot or Lowe's. There he encourages co-worker, Ralphie (Michael Skourtis), to lose weight and move up the ladder by becoming a security guard.
After work the McCall visits a local diner to eat, read, and occasionally discuss life, calmly extolling the virtues of self- discipline and healthy eating. There, we see also that he has become a genuine friend to a young working girl, Alina (Cloe Grace Moretz). She asks questions about the book he reads and looks troubled.
In the first act we often wonder when McCall will show his aces. Washington's nice guy character is introduced as quite passive and slow moving, as it moves through several relationships with increasing drama and tension. This reaches a peak when he confronts the Russian mob, who have beat the living crap out of Alina.
McCall has come to the mob's restaurant to buy Alina her freedom, making an offer the boss, Slavi (David Meunier), instantly mocks and refuses. Here, finally, we see McCall as the bad ass MF we have been impatiently expecting. The camera and special effects go into high gear revealing him to be a calculating, superhuman fighter who swiftly dispenses the heavily armed Russians in an incredibly bloody and violent encounter.
Now the die is cast, pitting McCall against the big Russian mob boss, Vladimir Pushkin (Vladimir Kulich), who must retaliate and kill him. To do this he employs Teddy, aka Nicolai (Martin Csokas), his best and most ruthless lieutenant. Working with corrupt cops Teddy methodically tracks down McCall, hurting or killing anyone who gets in his way. Meanwhile, more is revealed about McCall's past, when he meets with mysterious (CIA) characters who provide him with information and tools he requires to deal with the Russian mob.
This version of the Equalizer is quite compelling as was the original. There are few of us who have not wanted an equalizer in our lives to deal with an actual bully, predator, or obnoxious asshole who seem beyond the reach of "justice." This is about a primal as it gets when you find yourself as as a victim with no defense. So rooting for McCall is a piece of cake, no matter how much violence he spawns, and very uplifting, potentially.
Alas, this fantasy ends when we leave the theater, but maybe not, if we keep wishing harder!