The Equalizer 2 is a 2018 action-thriller where Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?
Director Antoine Fuqua re-teams with Denzel Washington for their fourth collaboration in the follow up to 2014’s The Equalizer with The Equalizer 2. It was a bit surprising to see The Equalizer getting the nod for a sequel seeing as it wasn’t exactly a box office smash hit, but nonetheless most people don’t mind seeing Washington as Robert McCall, the ex-CIA agent with a heart of gold and hands of steel, once more. Although the general premise of the movie isn’t exactly original, Fuqua is able to further build the character that is McCall, while giving the audience what it desires with Washington dealing out his brutal justice.
We pick up with McCall (Washington) on a train in Turkey where is tracking down a little girl who has been stolen from her mother. After taking out her kidnappers with ease, he returns to his life in Boston where he works as a Lyft driver. Here McCall has a quiet life where he works, reads, and does what he can to keep the neighborhood clean (which occasionally consists of him seeking his form of justice). He also agrees to employ one of his young neighbors who has a talent for art but is also involved with the wrong people, Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders), to clean up graffiti on their building.
McCall’s former CIA pal, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), keeps in touch as she aids him in some of his vigilante moonlighting. She also pays him a visit so he’s not alone on the anniversary of his wife’s death, and McCall heads to Washington for her husband Brian’s (Bill Pullman) book release. Susan still does some work with the CIA, despite being retired, and she is flown to Brussels to investigate the murder suicide of one of their agents. Accompanying her is her good friend and operative, Dave York (Pedro Pascal). After viewing the crime scene and returning to the hotel, Susan is jumped and murdered while entering her room.
After learning about the death of his dearest friend, McCall begins an investigation into Susan’s murder. In order to do so, he confronts his former partner, Dave, and reveals that he is still alive. Dave is shocked to see McCall after having been under the impression that he was killed in action. Dave tells McCall that he owes Susan his life, and will do whatever it takes to track down her killers.
As mentioned earlier, The Equalizer getting a sequel was a bit of a surprise. By no means did I dislike the movie, as a matter of fact I found it entertaining, but there was nothing that made it stand out. So, going into the sequel, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot. I figured there would be an ok plot, a twist and turn here or there, and some pretty solid action scenes. While all of those things are certainly aspects of the movie, what I wasn’t expecting was the time that Fuqua took to develop McCall’s character even further. It was refreshing to see that they weren’t just out to make a shoot em up sequel with all action and no depth.
The relationship between McCall and Miles wound up being one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie. You’ve got a kid who has clear artistic talent and is good at his core, but under the pressure to bring home money for his mother and being mixed in with the wrong crowd he is being led down a bad path. At the drug house Miles works for he is being convinced to kill people associated with the gang that killed his brother. Before this can go down, McCall breaks in and pulls Miles out. Here we get an extremely powerful and emotional part of the movie where McCall tries to help Miles realize that the easy path isn’t always the right path.
The best thing that the movie has going for it is Washington. Sure, he’s the lead character so it’s his job to carry the movie, but he certainly didn’t get much help. While Leo was a bright spot in both movies, her part is small and cut short in Equalizer 2 as she has an early death. Pullman does well in his part as friend and grieving husband, but again, it’s a small part. I was hoping for more from Pascal after how great he was on Game of Thrones as Prince Oberyn, but the part he was cast for didn’t feel like the right fit. We’re left with a rather unconvincing role that would’ve been better suited for a different actor.For all intents and purposes, The Equalizer 2 exceeded my expectations. I even enjoyed it more than the original. I didn’t really touch on it too much earlier, but the action scenes in this movie are awesome. The hand to hand combat is so well done as we watch how quickly and precisely McCall moves through assailants. The ending was pretty cliched and a bit anticlimactic, but I wasn’t expecting anything profound so it wasn’t a big deal. I’m not sure I would suggest shelling out $14 to see it in the theater, but when it’s available to rent or stream I would definitely recommend checking it out. Fans of Washington or of the original should not be disappointed.