Technical assessment: 3.5 Moral assessment: 2 MTRCB rating: R16 CINEMA rating: V18
On
a self-imposed retirement and turning his back on his unexplained past, Robert
McCall (Denzel Washington) is an unobtrusive and affable figure who lives alone
and daily takes the bus to work. He leads a quiet life working as a shelf-stocker at a home
improvement chain store; his spare apartment, all-natural diet, his mantra
“body-mind-spirit”, and his neat appearance indicate his passion for order. An insomniac, he whiles away his nights
reading a book while sipping tea at a nearby diner where he meets Teri (Chloë
Grace Moretz), an underage prostitute shabbily treated by her Russian handlers.
The
“equalizer” in the story is a retired CIA agent programmed to kill, and it is
in this area that The Equalizer
earns points for its lead star’s performance as a well-intentioned, conflicted
killing machine, a perfect role for 59-year old Washington. The plot is as old as time itself,
drawing inspiration from the welding of Robin Hood and MacGyver attributes, and
rather predictable: the exploited and helpless are helped by a character who
can’t remain unmoved by injustice.
The protagonist is no superhero boasting (CGI-assisted) superhuman
feats; and although his efficiency in accomplishing his murderous objectives is
quite remarkable, his genius still falls within the bounds of human
possibilities.
What
can the viewer bring home from watching a slow-burn thriller that’s The Equalizer? The story is not about gangsters
although it condemns them, nor about the oppressed although it defends them; it
is a character study about a man seeking redemption from his past
transgressions but knows of only one path to find it. If the skill to kill were a gift, this “equalizer” would be
super-gifted. In any given
situation the killer is in his elements, moved more by intuition than by
instinct, a made and not a born murderer.
The tandem of director Fuqua and actor Washington (Oscar winner in Training Day) works well to make a
heroic figure out of a criminal. Here
lies the danger: a congenial actor playing a vigilante figure would make it
easier for viewers to cheer for violence, after all, the bad guys are consummate
masters of atrocity here. As you,
the viewer, leave the cinema and The
Equalizer sinks deeper into your mind and images of the brutal killings
done in the name of justice cling to your memory, you might want to ponder the
gray zone humanity has wandered into—“making the wrong choices to get to the
right place.”
