The Equalizer (2014) - 4K UHD Review

Review:

*Originally written December 12th, 2018*

After seeing The Equalizer 2 I was worried that it might impact my opinion of the original Equalizer, a film I'd always quite liked, despite it's problems. After stupidly buying the 4K steelbook for the second film, I realised I had yet to own this on 4K, so here we are. I was pretty pleased to discover that despite it's problems, The Equalizer is still very solid, violent and stylish action film in its own right.

Antoine Fuqua is a director that gets a lot of flack in my opinion. It's true his career peaked over a decade ago with the excellent Training Day, but ever since then he's released a series of solid action films that arguably take themselves far too seriously, but they're all great fun for the most part. In fact the only film I've never liked of his is Brooklyn's Finest, but I'm far due a rewatch on that. 

Anyone, The Equalizer is the Hollywood reboot of some '80s TV show I've never watched. It's Denzel Washington as an ex-special ops, OCD, lonely and highly capable man who gets involved in taking down the Russian mob after he avenges the brutal beating of a teenage prostitute. It's basic, surface level stuff that really doesn't earn its bloated run-time.

The biggest problems here are its length and over-seriousness of what an absurd, cliched plot this is. Denzel's Robert McCall is well developed and we learn just enough about him through visual cues and the way he acts, but sometimes the dialogue just tries so hard to sound meaningful, but can just come off as a little pretentious. It's a dumb action film that desperately doesn't what to be one. Which is actually most of Antoine Fuqua's career thinking about it.

Denzel does manage to make this work though. He plays bad-ass pretty effortlessly, much like he has through his entire career and he has enough to work with to make McCall feel like a real human being despite the moments of highly stylised action. I kinda just wish the script was a little tighter and more focused and decided whether it wanted to be a dumb action film or a character piece, but instead we get a messy mix of both. 

I think that's where the tone clashes the most is within the action scenes. This wants to be a real human drama about a man sticking up for the people who can't defend themselves, but then descends into becoming a borderline superhero film when McCall's Sherlock Holmes like powers come into play. Part of me really likes the brief moments of McCall's ridiculous powers, but then I sort of hate them for blatantly ripping of the Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes thing he does much better.

 When it's not ripping off Ritchie's style, Fuqua really brings some insane brutality to the action. I forgot how nasty some of this film was and it was nice to it finally uncut in the UK in the now 18 rated 4K (Which is a great transfer too. With a film this dark, the HDR really helped make the night scenes more detailed and easier to make it while retained a gorgeous dark look). 

It's also refreshing to see an action film that takes a more creative approach to its violence. The finale in the home depot store is glorious and turns McCall into a slasher film villain as he brutally wipes out a squad of mercenaries using DIY equipment and setting up a series of demented, Home Alone style traps. We also get to see the biggest douchebag in the world Dan Bilzerian get lynched by barbed wire while we slowly watch him bleed and get choked out. Beautiful.


It's a slow burn to get to the action scenes for the most part, but it's definitely worth it for the most part. I just feel there's an excellent film here if it was just a bit more focused and cut down by a good 20 minutes or so. For better or worse it's another solid action film from Antoine Fuqua and seeing Denzel slaughter faceless Russians in increasingly brutal ways is always fun to watch. I just wish the sequel was as entertaining as this one.

7/10 Dans

The Equalizer is out now on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD in the UK
Watch the trailer below:

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The Equalizer 2 (2018) - Film Review

Review:

*Originally written August 22nd, 2018*

I don't know what's more insane, the fact Denzel Washington has never starred in a sequel to one of his own films before, or the fact that this film exists. I thought the first Equalizer was fine, a pulpy and violent time with an interesting enough character in Denzel's Robert McCall. It was simple dumb fun, a little overlong, but it did everything it needed to.

I'm not sure what I even wanted from a sequel, but what I got here was just pure disappointment. I was reminded of the sequel to Jack Reacher, a similarly formulaic affair that completely failed to live up to its first. I'm not sure what went wrong here, the creative team from the first were back and they just doubled down on the problems of the first.

I appreciate they tried to go for a more slow-burn approach compared to the first, their is very little action and the body-count is about 1/10 of the original. This didn't need to be a bad thing, but what they chose to pad this sequel out with is pure filler. There are so many subplots that add up to nothing, or gives you a pay-off that just leaves you shrugging. A particularly offensive moment towards the end that tried to tug at your heart strings made nearly vomit at the cinema. It was just so unearned and unnecessary. 

It reeks of a film trying to reach a 2 hour run-time, as the main plot of this feels as though it covers around 50 minutes of the film. Honestly, the main plot doesn't kick in till over an hour in, it was so strange. There's just lots of scenes of McCall driving around as an Uber driving trying to save people or leading a young student away from a life of crime. It could have worked a lot better if they streamlined a lot of this and focused more time on other things.

The relationship between McCall and the kid is the closest thing the film has to a heart and that could have been expanded on more, instead they just rehash a lot of territory they went over with Chloe Grace Moretz' character from the first. I know these films are based on a TV, but it really shows how much better this could work as a more expanded HBO show rather than a 2 hour film. In fact, this whole film feels like a season worth of story lines crammed into one film.

I sound extremely negative, but there were a few things I did like here. Denzel is still committed and gives a decent performance as McCall, our ex-special forces hero with OCD who decides to become a vigilante and Antoine Fuqua's direction does have visual flourish, even though it does steal a lot of ticks from Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes films for the action.

As fine as Fuqua's direction was with the action, it does lack the impact the first bought to the table, there is some really grizzly and narly kills here (It was cut from an 18 to a 15 in the UK, like the first was), it just needed more of it and more creativity. Nothing comes close of McCall's DIY rampage at the end of the first, making use of the tools around him to make a sadistic version of Home Alone. I just saw this a few hours ago and I'm failing to remember any action scenes aside from finale, which had a cool setting, but failed to do anything actually interesting with it.


It all just felt so by the numbers and boring. You know everything that's going to happen by the middle (Dear god, if you can't tell which character is actually the bad guy, then I'm worried about you). I finished the thing with more of an appreciate for the first, which is something I guess? This whole affair is just far too bland, safe and generic to please anyone other than people who just want a dumb action film on the background while they jerk off or something. We're no doubt getting a third Equalizer, but if they don't get some more creative talent behind it, then I'm out. Cinema is dead.

4/10 Dans

The Equalizer 2 is out now in cinemas in the UK. With a HMV Exclusive 4K UHD Steelbook available for pre-order. 
Watch the trailer below:

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