Rent The Equalizer 2 (2018)

A Good if slightly average action movie! - The Equalizer 2 review by CS

Whilst this isn't a patch on the original and I still can't understand why someone with such obvious talents would be living downmarket, acting as a kind of self regulated mercenary. This gets slightly confusing as it's almost several different plots and storylines interwoven, but as each plays out we are then left with the one final plot at the end. I have to say that I predicated quite early on where this was going to go and who the bad guys were. But all in it's still quite a decent action movie, looking at the usual themes of morality and do all Black Americans really go around calling each other Bro and dealing in drugs, or is that a little bit of stereotyping come in, Denzel? This did remind me a bit of Jason Bourne and like Bourne, a good action movie, but not a patch on the original!

Equalizer 2 Luton Town 3 aet - The Equalizer 2 review by Strovey

I enjoyed the first film, despite not really liking these type of films, so I approached The Equalizer 2 with some trepidation. There is no doubt the Denzil Washingston’s charisma and laconic acting style made the first Equalizer a success and certainly would tempt a lot of people to watch it that maybe would not normally do so. But here we are with one of my least favourite film numbers ‘2’.

Having said this Denzil Washington is in the film, he does not do sequels, he does not phone-in performances and he certainly does not need the money so there must be something to it. Truth be told there is and there is not. When Washington is on the screen, whether it is being sage, or duffing people over, or just being nice or funny, you get your money’s worth. Luckily he is on the screen a lot. His character is interesting and appealing and to use a very overused expression he is ‘badass’.

No, the problem with the film is the story is a bit tired and saggy at the edges. McCall’s clearly has a strong sense of right and wrong and a strong moral compass he does not need a hackneyed and very old plot-point to drive him into a new and interesting story. A lot of story points could be spotted miles away and it was fairly easy to guess who was going to make it to the credits, who was not, and who were the baddies.

This is not say that the supporting cast acted badly or you did not feel a sense of peril for characters but there is a strong sense of ‘seen it all beforeism’ in the run time. The denouement was frankly disappointing and left me with some seriously raised eyebrows. It did keep my interest though as I tried to figure out who was going to ‘get it’ during the storm and I was dead-on, he with the least amount of lines and screen-time dies first.

More enjoyable was McCall’s earlier ‘equalizing’ which padded out the first part of the story but helped to established that if you do bad and he runs across your path you are in big trouble, they actually made more sense than some of the ‘main’ story.

Further to this the side-story involving Orson Bean’s holocaust survivor whilst having its heart in the right place was clunky and a bit saccharine particularly the way it was tied-up. A bit too neat and lovely.

Overall I found The Equalizer 2 enjoyable and watchable but it was definitely diluted from the original and to my mind perhaps Robert McCall should be allowed to live out his salad days in peace especially when you consider the amount of mayhem he seems to cause from time to time he probably is not going to get away with his vigilantism for too much longer.

Ambitious thriller - The Equalizer 2 review by Alphaville

Reunited with director Antoine Fuqua, Denzel Washington returns in this sequel to wrong some more rights, and both make an even better job of it than before. With beautiful, smooth, organic camerawork, Fuqua is firing on all cylinders. After a James Bond-style opening action scene on board a Turkish train, we follow Denzel around the city where he works as a cab driver, Scorsese-style. These scenes are infused with appealing warmth, aided by spot-on editing and a seductive score, and ground the character for the action to come.

There’s skulduggery in Belgium, with a terrific action scene involving Melissa Leo, and the consequences cross the Atlantic to engulf our hero, pitting him against pros who are as good as he is. The ambitious Western-style climactic shootout in a deserted stormbound coastal town can’t quite deliver on its promise, but it’s a worthy attempt. This franchise has legs.

Denzel onto another winner - The Equalizer 2 review by LS

Has this man ever made a bad movie? I seriously doubt it. While this wasn't as good as the first it was still a cracking good action flic. All the usual ingredients were there, from the friend who turned out to be a baddie to the other friend who got bumped off. There will no doubt be a 3rd instalment & I can't wait

Great stuff and worth a watch - The Equalizer 2 review by JRo

Denzel Washington as ever at his charismatic best. Nothing new in the story line but it follows a tried and tested formula and is tense and edgy throughout with Denzel bringing his cool menace to the character when taking out villains with extreme prejudice. There is no need to analyse the film deeply , just sit back and enjoy the action

Entertaining Action Thriller Sequel - The Equalizer 2 review by GI

This belated sequel to 2014's The Equalizer is actually a reasonably entertaining action thriller bringing Denzel Washington back to do his Jason Bourne/James Bond/Jack Reacher thing with gutsy violence, realistic fights and a revenge plot that reveals more of the central character's past. Washington is McCall, former black ops assassin, now taxi driver and lover of books who occasionally goes out of his way to right wrongs and deal nasty people some righteous justice. When his beloved ex colleague (Melissa Leo), is murdered McCall goes on the prowl to find and despatch those responsible. There's some gruesomely violent set pieces and the main story is one involving espionage and double cross. Admittedly some of the narrative is left a little unexplored to its full potential but what's left is a good, solid action thriller that does exactly what you'd expect following the first film.

An excellent sequel which improves on everything started in the 1st film - The Equalizer 2 review by TB

After the brilliant & surprisingly good 1st film, plus the large box office haul, it was only a matter of time until we got a sequel. But welcomingly, the standard of quality has been maintained & number 2 is again a great film, doing everything that a good sequel should: honour the themes & tone of the first film, don't mess with what worked, don't change too much and improve on what the initial film started. Another massive positive in this film's favour, although it isn't always a guarantee of a good film when this happens, is that the entire crew/director & the main cast have returned. And finally, another element of the series which has been kept & expanded upon is the amount of time given with characters/allowing the world we are in to be fleshed out. The different people McCall meets, from the young man teetering on the edge of joining a gang to the older gentleman who he regularly see, are all allowed breathing space & time to actually be real people.

After the events of the 1st film, some things have changed. For starters, Robert McCall seems in many ways slightly more at peace. He also has grown out his hair, wears more comfortable clothing & changed his job. Now working as a taxi driver, he spends his time driving round the city, encountering many of the inhabitants. Most are lovely, but as is the way, some are scumbags. However, his new-found peace is shattered when one of his friends is murdered & the circumstances just don't feel right. McCall is then pitted against new foes who are even more dangerous than the Mafia he took out in the previous movie.

Washington again is magnificent. I was watching this film with my best mate & part way through the film he said to me "I could just watch Denzel drive around all day, interacting with the different people he meets." And I felt the same way. McCall is such an interesting & dynamic individual, so it is a pleasure to be in his company. Melissa Leo, McCall's handler & close friend, is also great, giving him one of the only constants & comforts in his life. But we also have some new characters as well, front & center Pedro Pascal's Dave York, one of McCall's old colleagues, who has no idea he was still alive. Finally, there is Miles Whittaker, a young black man whose brother has been murdered & is teetering on the edge of falling down the dark & violent rabbit hole of gang culture/violence. The scenes of McCall taking Miles under his wing, whether as a gentle calm man or, when he catches Miles arming himself with the gang, roasting him & threatening to take his gun and shoot him, are all powerful.

There is much to love in these films & there is still a freshness to them. The final showdown also makes excellent use of the various deadly skills McCall has learnt during his military service. And welcomingly, things are set up perfectly for a 3rd film, which has just been released & which I'll be seeing tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be the send-off the character deserves.

But number 2 is powerful, great filmmaking from a cast & crew at the top of their game.