As McCall goes about his silent but deadly rampage, the Russian mobster at the top of the food chain sends his "fixer" to see who is upsetting his Boston business and that man, known as Teddy (Marton Csokas, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Rogue), is a force to be reckoned with. He is just as controlled and brilliant as McCall and they will begin a game of cat and mouse that will end in a flurry of grand destruction.
Denzel Washington is an acting genius and I don't believe I have ever seen a movie he has been in that I haven't enjoyed. This man is 60-years-old and he is still playing a consummate bad-ass and playing it to the hilt. He is amazing as McCall, so controlled and principled, yet perfectly willing to be as deadly as is required, all without the use of a gun. McCall gets really creative in his endeavors and watching him (wet)work is fantastic. I also loved the directing style of Antoine Fuqua and while I admit I haven't seen Training Day just because I never got around to it, I will now have to make the time. When McCall goes into kill mode, everything slows down around him as he keenly evaluates the scene. The action scenes are beautifully shot and Denzel did all of his own stunts. Again, he's a bad-ass, and not just acting like one. Chloe Grace Moretz and Marton Csokas also play their roles brilliantly and I am fans of both, but they only impressed me even more in The Equalizer. Moretz is so young, yet she plays the part of a teen prostitute who is aged well beyond her years perfectly, while Csokas will turn your veins to ice as he does in almost every role I've seen him in. The man is fantastic. Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo have small but integral roles in the film as well and both do a solid job.
There are a number of special features in The Equalizer, but they almost all clock in at less than 10 minutes, which is perfect. Sweet little bites of knowledge and details about the film are exactly what I like to see in a list of special features. You'll learn about Fuqua's vision for the film, the training Denzel went through to prepare for the film and stunts, a behind the scenes featurette, one on Denzel, himself, as the character of Robert McCall, a short featurette/PSA on Children of the Night, a photo gallery, and a great promo piece on Home Mart - Robert McCall style. There's also Vengeance Mode where you can re-watch the entire film with breakaways with commentary and video of Washington and Fuqua as they discuss the various main characters of the film, although this is something you'll want to do after first watching it the normal way.
I can't tout The Equalizer enough as a wonderful action film, but it has a slow burn to it. It's not constant action and Fuqua takes his time building and unfolding the characters slowly, as it should be done, but when the action starts, it packs a punch. I think of it as Home Alone, but with Denzel instead of McCauley Culkin, and nail guns and propane tanks instead of paint cans and cardboard cut-outs of Michael Jordan. If you like a good action film with a solid story behind it and a brilliant cast, The Equalizer is not to be missed. Highly, highly recommended.
