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The Equalizer 2 (2018) (56%)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Richard Wenk
Stars: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation
The Equalizer 2 picks up not that long after The Equalizer concluded and Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is now a Lyft driver. He picks up people and takes them wherever they need to be, and occasionally he does contract work for people on the side. Eventually, one of his friends is killed and he is set onto a quest for revenge.
The Equalizer 2 is not as good as its predecessor. That's just how it is. The first 25 minutes or so of the film are used to fill us in on what McCall is doing these days and drags on far too long. There's a lot of him just driving people around during this section of the film and frankly it gets kind of boring. And really, this film should have been severely cut down in editing. It's a two hour, maybe a little over, long film that could have easily been done in about an hour and forty minutes.
Antoine Fuqua attempts to provide a more complex story than the first film, but he fails to keep it entertaining and when the "twist" comes it's not a surprise at all. It's a twist that has been done dozens and dozens of times before and most people will be expecting it. The B Story in this film feels like a side quest in a video game, not an integral or even necessary part of the film. It's meant to show us the human side of Denzel, but it never fully does its job. The action is very good when it happens, but considering the reason why most people will see this film is because of the action, it seems a bit too spread out. Sometimes that's fine, but the story here isn't good enough to warrant such long gaps in-between the action. Furthermore, the final fight should be the best part of a film like this. The entire film was leading up to it, after all. But it's incredibly disappointing and I still can't believe this but it's arguably the worst part of this film.
There is entertainment to be had here. But unless you have a theater subscription, or maybe you're a huge fan of the first one, I can't recommend spending the money to see this one on the big screen.
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Writer: Richard Wenk
Stars: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders
Production Company: Columbia Pictures Corporation
The Equalizer 2 picks up not that long after The Equalizer concluded and Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is now a Lyft driver. He picks up people and takes them wherever they need to be, and occasionally he does contract work for people on the side. Eventually, one of his friends is killed and he is set onto a quest for revenge.
The Equalizer 2 is not as good as its predecessor. That's just how it is. The first 25 minutes or so of the film are used to fill us in on what McCall is doing these days and drags on far too long. There's a lot of him just driving people around during this section of the film and frankly it gets kind of boring. And really, this film should have been severely cut down in editing. It's a two hour, maybe a little over, long film that could have easily been done in about an hour and forty minutes.
Antoine Fuqua attempts to provide a more complex story than the first film, but he fails to keep it entertaining and when the "twist" comes it's not a surprise at all. It's a twist that has been done dozens and dozens of times before and most people will be expecting it. The B Story in this film feels like a side quest in a video game, not an integral or even necessary part of the film. It's meant to show us the human side of Denzel, but it never fully does its job. The action is very good when it happens, but considering the reason why most people will see this film is because of the action, it seems a bit too spread out. Sometimes that's fine, but the story here isn't good enough to warrant such long gaps in-between the action. Furthermore, the final fight should be the best part of a film like this. The entire film was leading up to it, after all. But it's incredibly disappointing and I still can't believe this but it's arguably the worst part of this film.
There is entertainment to be had here. But unless you have a theater subscription, or maybe you're a huge fan of the first one, I can't recommend spending the money to see this one on the big screen.