Liam Neeson found his match

Rating: 7/10 (20 October 2014)

Quickie Review:
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a law abiding citizen respected by all his peers. He has chosen to leave his dark and mysterious past behind to live a quiet life. However, when his friends are threatened by criminals and corrupt cops, Robert cannot sit idly by and takes matters into his own methodical hands. The Equalizer, is not deep in narrative or storytelling, but quite frankly it doesn't have to be. This is just a fun film where you just get to relax with your snacks and drinks to watch Denzel Washington kick rear-ends till the very end. If that's all you want and need, you'll be more than satisfied.
Full Review:
Let's be honest here, nobody is expecting an instant classic from this movie. As long as this movie delivered on the fun action, it did its job.
Thankfully it was entirely Denzel Washington show and he killed it in his role while he killed the Russian mob. I tend to like the more methodical action heroes, people who give attention to the smallest detail for everything they do. You see that throughout the movie where Washington is thinking ahead and timing his moves perfectly. The fights are well shot too with little shaky cam and perfect sound to really make every punch or shot feel painful. The villain played by Marton Csokas was actually pretty good. They could've gone the generic villain route and this movie would still have worked, but Marton Csokas brought in just the right amount of unbalanced temper that he was big enough threat to care about.
The Equalizer is not without faults. One in particular that kind of took me out of the movie was that there were way too many subplots within a short time span. This also made it feel longer than it should. Other than the main plot of the Russian mob, there were two or three other subplots where the Washington's character needs to intervene additional criminals and/or corrupt cops. These were supposed to show how loyal and honorable Robert is. Yet I feel, this could've been achieved through the main plot itself, making the overall movie a bit more concise.
Overall, I enjoyed watching The Equalizer, I got exactly what I was looking for. Fans of movie such Taken, Dredd, or some fighting elements of Bourne Trilogy, will find it to be an entertaining time in the cinemas. Now let just have a cross-over with Taken to watch Denzel Washington and Liam Neeson duke it out!
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