Equalizer 2 Review: Batman Meets Sherlock Holmes?

I was concerned after I saw the negative reviews this movie was getting. Now after seeing it, I can confirm that it wasn't as bad as people were saying. It's not groundbreaking though. Go check out Jeremy Jahns’ review on YouTube after reading this, he hit the nail on the head for how I felt about this movie.

Story/Writing- Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is back in action as the vigilante who now moonlights as a Lyft driver (because Uber is overrated these days) and fights crime pretty much during the night, like Batman, hence my title. Also one last mention of Batman, Denzel has a secret compartment in his bookcase. LIKE FRIGGIN BATMAN. There are a lot of minor subplots to establish Denzel's character is the nicest guy ever but they don't add much to the story. Instead of protecting a minor (in age not significance) prostitute, he's protecting a kid who is about to get wrapped up in criminal gang activity. While writing that I realize it's kind of an easy out for character progression, but oh well.

Cinematography/Props- It's always hard to keep this category in mind when talking about modern movies because everything is just standard issue, like the cars and other things. The different weaponry that is used in the movie is cool though because the antagonists are former military, and the different "traps" that are set by Robert in the movie at the climax are awesome as well.

Acting- Denzel is obviously the main centerpiece of this movie, and man is he just so likable. Him and Tom Hanks are hard not to enjoy basically everything they do. Even when he plays a bad guy he's awesome, and seeing him be at a slightly older age and still destroy dudes is awesome. The other actor that is in this movie the most is Ashton Sanders. I don't like how they used his character toward the end, but he was good with what he was given.

Directing- Antoine Fuqua directed the first Equalizer movie and Training Day as well as several others. I dig his directing style, and he seems to have a certain flair and stamp on solid action movies. There were a few stylistic choices I could've done without, but overall a decent outing.

Soundtrack/Audio- The soundtrack wasn't anything super special, more subtle, but it was a good supplement to the action. The climax had a similar score accompanying it like the first movie did, very epic in scale, but overall it was pretty solid.

Final Verdict- B+. This movie was a mixed bag, because it seemed like a rehash of the original which I thoroughly enjoyed, and those other movies I mentioned, but overall it actually did have some enjoyment to be had for sure.

#Action #DenzelWashington