The Equalizer

I was quite excited to see The Equalizer. I really enjoyed Safe House back in 2012 and the trailers were pretty good. Well, I'm happy to say that The Equalizer is exactly what you'd expect and more; and is a very satisfying action-thriller. The story follows Robert, a man who tries to put his violent past behind him and start fresh. But when he meets a young girl who is controlled by Russian gangsters, he can't stand idle and must help her. The story is very interesting and has many surprising moments. However, I found quite a few plot-holes. Also, the story seemed way too jumbled all over the place. There are certain important events that happen and are never even brought up again until the final scene of the movie. One of the reasons for this is that the movie is WAY too long! Clocking in at a whopping 2 hours and 15 minutes, The Equalizer gets boring and tiring at some parts. Many scenes seemed completely unnecessary and slowed the movie down. Denzel Washington is totally badass as his awesome character! I really liked the character of Robert; he was very different for an action movie protagonist. Chloe Grace Moretz is pretty good for the short time she's actually in the movie. The rest of the supporting cast were pretty good; especially David Harbour. After giving two great performances in a row (he was in A Walk Among The Tombstones), I'll be looking out for this guy in future movies. The only problem with the acting is the Russian bad guys were so incredibly cartoony and cheesy. Their accents were over-the-top and they were incredibly unbelievable. Many scenes were very cheesy and unoriginal too. There's a ton of slow-mo and other action movie clichés spread throughout. When the action does hit, though, it hits HARD. The action is easily the best part of The Equalizer. The blood and gore are perfectly used and some of the baddie takedowns were utterly jaw-dropping. The finale of this movie was freaking incredible and made my heart throb! Overall, The Equalizer is exactly what you'd expect. Even though it is quite clichéd and is way too long, the action and Denzel Washington easily make up for it. RATING: 7.5/10.