The Equalizer 2

Story: In this sequel to the 2014 vigilante thriller, former Marine and Defense Intelligence Agency spy Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) continues bashing up the bad guys. But this time, it gets personal and he must do whatever it takes to seek revenge.
Review: The opening scene of the Equalizer 2 is a promising start. It includes a train journey to Istanbul where McCall disguised as a Muslim cleric beats up a bunch of unsuspecting villains to pulp, followed by his trademark sermons on pain and hurt. Enough to get you onboard for some rollicking action ahead where good triumphs over evil. And it does. For the next half-hour or so, director Antoine Fuqua regales us with non-stop episodes of the McCall brand of vigilante justice. This time around, he has access to crime stories brewing in his own backseat and beyond, as a taxi driver on-call.
This sets the tone for a racy crime thriller, although minor bumps slow the pace down. The narrative is packed with a few subplots and characters that seem to do little other than highlight McCall’s endearing humane side. This is apparent with the entry of Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders) – a teenage boy with artistic talent, rogue friends and a troubled past. Thankfully, the story moves forward when the events take a more serious turn.
Every once in a while, the kick-ass action continues to underline the sheer agility of the 63-year-old Washington. As an actor, he never misses a beat whether he’s delivering hard-hitting dialogues or raining blows. The plot also travels from Boston to Belgium and back, connecting McCall’s past and present, but a lot of revelations are predictable. References to McCall’s own brooding backstory connect the dots for those who missed part one. However, there is no escaping the long run time that would’ve benefited with some more action and tightening. While there is an elaborate climax with heavy duty gunfire exchange replete with blood and gore, the hurricane backdrop could’ve been avoided.
All in all, Equalizer 2 is cut from the same cloth as one and packs in quite a few punches. It’s a delight for action seekers and diehard Washington fans – there’s plenty of both to ‘equalize’ the obvious flaws.