Movie review: The Equalizer 2 is equally dull and disjointed
This is an odd film, brought to you by ride-hailing app Lyft.
You may not remember much about this movie leaving the cinema, but you will remember the product placement.
Its one strength is Denzel Washington, one of the most charming and watchable actors on the planet.
The 2014 original, loosely based on the '80s TV show, was part of that trend of unlikely-actor-turned-action-hero films ignited by Liam Neeson in Taken. But what The Equalizer really is is Washington wishing that his character had not died at the end of 2004's underrated Man On Fire.
Robert McCall is essentially the same - unassuming, fastidious and genial, yet hiding a dark past where he is insanely good at killing. Only now he does it to the deserving.
It is that male fantasy of the avenging angel, the warrior poet. Yes, McCall knows the optimal places to stab someone, but he also reads Proust.
Nothing particularly wrong with that, though what he should concentrate on is equalising between action and boredom, as a lot of time is spent waiting for it to kick in.
A disjointed plot, cliched characters, casting that pretty much works as a spoiler, and the clunkiest of visual metaphors - it is a mess, and a dull one at that.
Focus is constantly hijacked by McCall's being a Lyft driver, something the film takes pains to point out at every possible moment, verbally and visually.
Melissa Leo returns as McCall's CIA pal Susan. Her murder while investigating the faked suicide of an agent, sends McCall to uncover a conspiracy and avenge his friend. Bill Pullman also returns as Susan's husband, though he barely gets five minutes of screentime. Nice of him to join in though.
But the villain is clear from the off and there is nothing worse than having to wait for a plot to dawdle to a conclusion the audience arrived at much earlier.
Adding to that having to trudge through airless scenes involving the old man whom McCall wants to help, or steering a young lad away from gang life.
These are broken by bursts of action and violence – admittedly done well by director Antoine Fuqua. But they are too few and far between.
Throughout the film, much is made of the "storm" that is coming. Every so often, someone mentions it or the TV and radio warn about it. Each time, they may as well wink at the camera.
So guess where the climax takes place?
Yes, in an actual storm, while McCall unleashes his inner storm by dispatching the bad guys using his truly magnificent killing ability and techniques.
Some of his traps feel like grown-up versions of the ones young Kevin McCallister used in Home Alone.
Wait a minute. McCallister? McCall? Is The Equalizer a secret sequel to the Home Alone series?
If only. That might have made it more interesting.
Rating: 2/5
MOVIE: The Equalizer 2
STARRING: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo
DIRECTOR: Antoine Fuqua
THE SKINNY: Former US Marine and Defence Intelligence Agency spy Robert McCall (Washington) sets out on a path of revenge after one of his friends is killed.
RATING: NC16
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