The first “The Equalizer” was the kind of film that either didn’t know or didn’t care that the tough guy walking away from the explosion while never looking back was a long played out, often satirized cliché (spoofed by the Lonely Island song “Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions”). Very possibly the former. And that might be the perfect metaphor of this antiquated macho thriller series seemingly plucked from the ’90s that doubled down on clichés and its lead character played by Denzel Washington, a man out of time in the modern world in a dated movie that thinks it’s badass. He’s your uncool dad unaware of the trends or the world around him, only highly-skilled and lethal af when it comes to his vigilante view of punishment and righting wrongs.
Despite all its silliness (the “Jack Reacher“-like predictive fight scenes) and outdated familiarity, director Antoine Fuqua’s first entry in this franchise about fighting injustice was, at times, ludicrous, dumb fun; Denzel cracking skulls in a manner so gruesome and absurd, you couldn’t help, but giggle with a little bit of “omg, lol,” diversion.
Directed once again by Fuqua (“Training Day,” “Southpaw”), with an even deeper sense of self-seriousness, “The Equalizer 2” features no such amusements and feels just as out of touch with the world. It’s essentially more of the same, but nastier and at the same time trying to inject soulfulness into the proceedings. Written by Richard Wenk (“The Expendables 2“) this sequelizer even tries to act like a solemn drama at times, but it’s largely humorless, banal and uninvolving.
In the unremarkable picture, instead of working at the local hardware store—where he royally and creatively maimed his enemies in the previous film—this time retired CIA black ops operative Robert McCall (Washington) moonlights as a Lyft driver and one that will keep tabs on your bad behavior and seriously brutalize you if act remotely dishonorably. A bunch of young, arrogant hedge fund assholes abuses a call girl and McCall beats the living hell out of them, leaving shattered bones and brain-injuring concussions. ‘’EQ2’ reminds you often: if you don’t come correct on McCall’s watch, you’re about to enter a whole world of pain.
But at two hours that feels like an interminable slog, “The Equalizer 2” takes forever to get going, content with at least a half hour of repeating McCall’s code of “never cross an innocent or violent hellfire will rain down on you,” including an opening scene where the ex-CIA agent travels to Turkey to save a child taken away by a father during an ugly divorce. We get it, act immorally or jaywalk and you’re going to spend the night in the emergency room with a long road of physical therapy ahead of you.
“The Equalizer 2” finally gets into first gear when the story re-introduces Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), McCall’s old CIA pal and boss. Investigating a murder in Europe that involves one of their covert French assets, Plummer starts sniffing out the case and is pre-emptively murdered for poking around (her legendary tenacity means once she starts she’s likely going to solve the case).
This leads McCall to Dave York (Pedro Pascal from “Game Of Thrones” and “Narcos”), Plummer’s CIA co-worker and an ex-covert ops buddy shocked to discover his thought-to-be-long-dead pal is alive. From there, “The Equalizer 2” focuses on visceral revenge and primal payback, but given Susan’s deep friendship with McCall, this time it’s personal which means many grizzly deaths, bone-crushing agony and the kind of vindictive violence that sadists might love. “The Equalizer 2” is often a nasty film and its unflinching violence is even more malicious.
However, Fuqua’s film isn’t all stomping and skull-crushing. In fact, you know when you see an action movie and you wish it had some character, some layers and some point, Fuqua’s attempts all that. But it’s the kind of movie that uses Marcel Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time,” and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ “Between the World and Me,” as visual signifiers on side tables that ultimately say nothing meaning about the memory, the search for truth or being black in America. No matter how many times Denzel sits pensively in a chair, staring out the window, holding a book that reminds him of his dear departed wife, Fuqua and the script are ill-equipped to imbue gravitas.
‘EQ2,’ is most notable for its unwarranted brutality and vulgar overcorrection of transgressions. Damage the garden of a neighbor living in the same apartment complex? Graffiti the walls? Don’t tip enough for that Lyft ride? You might as well have signed a death warrant (ok, kidding, but like, very plausible?). Try and assassinate McCall, sure, you’re going to die, but it’s as if this archangel of vengeance will kill you three times just for good measure.
The movie’s subplot, McCall trying to urge a wannabe-gangsta younglin’ Miles (“Moonlight” star Ashton Sanders) from fulfilling his potential and avoiding the call of the thug life, tries to evoke the aforementioned Coates, but mostly speaks to the kind of Dad Movie, “I will school you if you don’t listen” elements of ‘EQ2.’
If it weren’t for a black man starring in the picture, one could see the NRA fully endorsing the picture (they’re still silent on some recent African-America “heroes” with arms). McCall is the good guy with the gun that stops the bad guy with the gun dead in his tracks. But there’s really nothing heroic about this protagonist who puts the v for violence in vigilantism.
One suspects, “The Equalizer 2” will please anyone with a taste for the hyper-violent or might enjoy a TV crime drama with R-rated flair. But Fuqua’s movie, unqualified to create anything other than superficial poignancy, is empty, tiresome and uninteresting, satisfied with repeatedly communicating that if you exploit the innocent, harm the oppressed or abandon your code of conscience, Robert McCall will be there to set things right and severely punish you several times over. [C-]