The Equalizer (2014)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Moretz
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Written by: Richard Wenk
Genre: Action, thriller, violence, drama
Rated: 15

If there is one thing that all avid movie watchers believe, it is that films are not just here to entertain us, but they are here to teach us something, here to help us feel. Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer – although mostly entertaining – somehow fails miserably in doing this. Despite the non-stop action, odd funny quips and expectedly kickass acting from Denzel, The Equalizer is empty and senseless, leaving the audience asking endless questions – and not the good kind.

Denzel is Robert, a typically lonely widower working in a hardware store, spending his dull evenings reading books in the local café (clearly a feeble attempt to add an inch of depth to this shallow tale). It is here he meets Teri (Chloe Moretz), a young girl working as an escort for a group of highly dangerous Russian men. After she suffers a beating, Robert decides to revert back to his past (which is never explained) and do something about it with swift, savvy planning and lots and lots of blood.

Washington doesn’t showcase his best skills here, however you can’t help but love the guy – his minor faults can be overlooked, as the main flaws here lie with a cliché script and empty characters that you feel like you never really get to know or love. Performances from Moretz and Melissa Leo are unsurprisingly endearing and captivating, which makes their lack of screen time extremely underserved and a real shame. Fuqua’s fancy camera work and daring angles are like that of a child with a brand new toy, which makes it all a bit too fast-paced - especially for a film which already takes much too long to get going and much too long to end.

For a quick action fix, The Equalizer ticks all of the boxes. The audience may find themselves on the edge of their seat, unable to look at the screen, and yes – it is highly exhilarating and undoubtedly enjoyable - but that is it. Within an hour, you’ve forgotten what the film was even about. There is no way this movie is going to stay with us for very long, but for an unnecessarily long two and a half hours, The Equalizer is perhaps not the worst movie you could choose to see.