The Equalizer 2 (15.)
Directed by Antione Fuqua.
Starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo and Orson Bean. 121 mins.
In matters of translating 80s TV favourite The Equalizer to the screen let your first thought always be What Would Edward Woodward do? I feel sure he would approve of Denzel taking on his role. He might though have thought they were pushing their luck making a second. And I'm sure that he would've opposed the idea of starting it on a Turkish Railway 400 km from Istanbul; especially a fake CGI Turkish Railway 400 km from Istanbul.
In the first film, Washington's McCall was a civic-minded Travis Bickle, a concerned citizen using his military training to stand up for put upon people in his neighbourhood. In 2 he is an international man of mystery. He is also now an actual Taxi Driver, for an Uber-type organisation called Lyft, which puts him in touch with local injustices to be acted on.
Why after three decades as a movie star has Denzil chosen this for his first sequel? McCall is a great cross-party vehicle: he espouses a conservative belief in people standing up for themselves and taking responsibility yet is liberally inclusive, helping people from all ethnic backgrounds. He believes in self-improvement – he's just starting Proust. He is a good man, as long as you don't cross him.
Washington is again majestic in the part: I doubt this year's Oscar winner will play his role with such assurance or make so much of lines that offer so little. Denzil makes most other stars look like sock puppets in comparison. But McCall, an invincible one-man slaughterhouse who is a fairy godmother for the oppressed, is an inherently ridiculous figure. He is a cross between Obama and Robocop providing pithy Yes You Can motivational epigrams to the dispossessed, and spree killing anyone resistant to his notions of self-improvement.
The film is sunk by a plot that has him investigating the murders of FBI agents. This removes him from the city streets and the ordinary people he is supposed to protect and takes away much of his appeal. It seems a really odd choice by the filmmaker, like a Robin Hood tale where he leaves Sherwood Forest to deal with business with his old Crusade war buddies. I imagine the thinking was to address the sweeping cynicism that has guided US policy this century. The country has abjugated its role as Good Guy, so McCall is trying to rectify its government's failings. But this kind of tired plot of betrayal in high places is beneath Washington; it should be left for a Van Damme or Seagal to clear up.
Directed by Antione Fuqua.
Starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo and Orson Bean. 121 mins.
In matters of translating 80s TV favourite The Equalizer to the screen let your first thought always be What Would Edward Woodward do? I feel sure he would approve of Denzel taking on his role. He might though have thought they were pushing their luck making a second. And I'm sure that he would've opposed the idea of starting it on a Turkish Railway 400 km from Istanbul; especially a fake CGI Turkish Railway 400 km from Istanbul.
In the first film, Washington's McCall was a civic-minded Travis Bickle, a concerned citizen using his military training to stand up for put upon people in his neighbourhood. In 2 he is an international man of mystery. He is also now an actual Taxi Driver, for an Uber-type organisation called Lyft, which puts him in touch with local injustices to be acted on.
Why after three decades as a movie star has Denzil chosen this for his first sequel? McCall is a great cross-party vehicle: he espouses a conservative belief in people standing up for themselves and taking responsibility yet is liberally inclusive, helping people from all ethnic backgrounds. He believes in self-improvement – he's just starting Proust. He is a good man, as long as you don't cross him.
Washington is again majestic in the part: I doubt this year's Oscar winner will play his role with such assurance or make so much of lines that offer so little. Denzil makes most other stars look like sock puppets in comparison. But McCall, an invincible one-man slaughterhouse who is a fairy godmother for the oppressed, is an inherently ridiculous figure. He is a cross between Obama and Robocop providing pithy Yes You Can motivational epigrams to the dispossessed, and spree killing anyone resistant to his notions of self-improvement.
The film is sunk by a plot that has him investigating the murders of FBI agents. This removes him from the city streets and the ordinary people he is supposed to protect and takes away much of his appeal. It seems a really odd choice by the filmmaker, like a Robin Hood tale where he leaves Sherwood Forest to deal with business with his old Crusade war buddies. I imagine the thinking was to address the sweeping cynicism that has guided US policy this century. The country has abjugated its role as Good Guy, so McCall is trying to rectify its government's failings. But this kind of tired plot of betrayal in high places is beneath Washington; it should be left for a Van Damme or Seagal to clear up.
