Movie Review: The Equalizer (2014)
Synopsis: Boston hardware store employee Robert "Bob" McCall is beloved by his coworkers but never discusses his violent past. Due to insomnia, Bob frequents an all-night diner, where he drinks tea and reads books. While there, he befriends Alina, a 17-year-old who is being sex trafficked by members of the Russian mafia. When Alina is severely beaten and hospitalized, Bob attempts to buy her freedom. When his peaceful offer is rejected, he sets aside a vow he made to his late wife and returns to his violent ways to both assist Alina and the mafia's other local victims.
Who's in it? The movie stars Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Martin Csokas, David Harbour and Haley Bennett.
Review: Since I've never been a fan of the 1980s television series it was based on, I had never taken the time to watch The Equalizer in the more than a decade it has been out. However, after scrolling through several movies last night and being unable to settle on one with my wife, we finally decided to give this a try. Fortunately, it turned out to be a lot better than expected.
There were a couple things I really liked about this movie. One of the main ones was the deliberate secrecy about Bob's (Washington) past. Even as the movie progressed, background details about him were limited. This, in turn, allowed for some surprises as far as his skillset went, whether it was his fighting skill or his ability to find out information.
I also found I loved the decision to cast real-life teenager Moretz as the prostitute, Alina (who also had the alias Teri). This added quite a bit of realism as far as sex trafficking goes plus it guaranteed Bob's actions were being done purely from a platonic/noble point of view versus him attempting to rescue a love interest. The latter added a whole new layer to his mystique as well because he had nothing to gain from helping her.
The movie's action scenes are a little over-the-top but fun to watch. In other words, some of the scenes are a little extra gory with Bob seeming to go out of his way to be as violent at possible rather than simply picking up one of his victim's guns. However, at the same time, it's nothing that I thought crossed a line.
There were, admittedly, a few things about the movie that left me scratching my head. For example, Bob goes out of his way to collect evidence for the authorities, only to not have the police seemingly not do much of anything other than collect the people he already captured for them. This was especially true during the final battle, when his rescued co-workers had plenty of time to dial 9-1-1 but apparently either didn't think it was necessary to make the call, or the Boston Police Department had better things to do.
The movie also glosses over what happened in the aftermath, when Bob's secret was clearly out of the bag and he arguably could have faced some serious criminal charges. Did everyone who saw him take down a bunch of bad guys decide to take a vow of silence? Were the authorities too embarrassed to press charges? Did the people he used to work for pull strings? It just kind of felt like it shouldn't have been as easy as him returning back to his normal routine, even if it was necessary to set up sequels.
Final Opinion: The movie was better than I was expecting with quite a bit of action and an intriguing main character. While there were still some things I didn't like, I thought it was a movie worth watching.
My Grade: B+
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