The Equalizer 2 (2018)

I should preface my remarks by reiterating the maxim which has lost none of its veracity – a Denzel Washington movie is always worth the price of admission. Denzel is a man who can do no wrong, always turning in a commanding performance regardless of what movie he’s headlining; moreover, he never repeats a trick, creating a new character each time while retaining a certain Denzel-ness across his career. With The Equalizer 2, much has been made of this being his (and director Antoine Fuqua’s) first sequel, and while it is – for the first time – more of the same, in the case of Denzel Washington, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

Denzel returns as Robert McCall, a retired operative who’s lost none of his edge, using his side job as a Lyft driver to help the downtrodden and oppressed. When a friend is killed in the line of duty, McCall steps out of retirement to find the killers and avenge his friend.

I came out of The Equalizer 2 feeling slightly disappointed. Maybe it was just the overcast weather or the fact that someone had brought a howling toddler into the theater, but I felt that The Equalizer 2 hadn’t delivered on the promise that I had expected. I went back to my original review of The Equalizer from 2014 and found that I’d overhyped it in my imagination. I had said that The Equalizer was “nothing groundbreaking” and safely “by-the-numbers,” but the film was carried ably by Denzel’s charisma alone. Put another way, I was surprised how closely my reaction to the sequel matched my review of its predecessor.

The good news, then, is that The Equalizer 2 does exactly what it says on the tin, and fans of the first one will have roughly the same experience a second time around. (Compare to sequels like Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, which lacked any sense of freshness in repeating its forbearer’s bag of tricks.) The plots are roughly similar, with McCall picking up a few more subplots of assisting the common man, as the first film’s finale foreshadowed. It includes also some more bang-up sequences in which McCall proceeds to dismantle an entire room full of guys half his age. It was this edge that reminded me somewhat of Taken, though with somewhat less frenetic editing; like Neeson, Denzel is a man of advancing years (64 of them, to be precise), but he’s not shy about harnessing that youthful energy which makes his age so impossible to believe. Where the first Equalizer had two intensely memorable setpieces – the club scene and the hardware store finale – this one has at least three: an opener aboard a train, the apartment scene glimpsed in the trailers, and a final showdown that repeats the careful orchestration of the hardware store but expands the scope quite dramatically.

There is, however, the acute sense that we have seen all this before (and, if box office receipts are any indication, we will see all of this again). We’ve seen Denzel as the steady paternalistic hand – though not, I grant you, while pointing a gun to his own head and daring his mentee to pull the trigger. We’ve seen him as a one-man demolition crew when the odds would seem to be against him, and we’ve seen him as a helpful community leader. He is quite good at all of these things, so it’s little surprise that The Equalizer 2 calls on him to do them one more time. But the rest of the film is so conventional, so safe, that its plot can be deciphered from the concessions stand. (There is at least one genuinely effective twist, which relies more on an emotional beat than a narrative turn, one I genuinely did not see coming.)

The night I saw The Equalizer 2, I happened to catch Roman J. Israel, Esq. on television. I was reminded of what a commanding performance Denzel gave in that film and how surprisingly the plot’s careening nature presented itself. Like its predecessor, The Equalizer 2 is comparatively more by-the-numbers; when one of those numbers is Denzel Washington, it’s tough to argue, but you’ll be forgiven if you find yourself wanting just a little more Denzel. The Equalizer 2 is Denzel at about a six; just give him more to do.

The Equalizer 2 is rated R for “brutal violence throughout, language, and some drug content.” Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Written by Richard Wenk. Starring Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Ashton Sanders, Bill Pullman, Orson Bean, and Melissa Leo.

The Magnificent Seven (2016)

The very first thing that must be said about The Magnificent Seven is that any movie directed by Antoine Fuqua that stars Denzel Washington is automatically worth a look. Having said that, one can’t help but feel that The Magnificent Seven suffers a bit for being an ensemble piece because we don’t get as much Denzel time as we deserve. That’s not to say that The Magnificent Seven is ever boring or unwatchable, but it is underwhelming.

In a remake of the eponymous 1960 western (which was itself a remake of Seven Samurai), Denzel Washington stars as Sam Chisolm, a bounty hunter recruited by Emma Cullen (Haley Bennett) to save her village from a mustache-twirling robber baron (Peter Sarsgaard) who wants the exclusive mining rights to the valley. Chisolm assembles a posse comprised of the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest lover” (Chris Pratt), a mountain man (Vincent D’Onofrio), a traumatized Confederate and his Chinese comrade (Ethan Hawke and Byung-hun Lee), a Mexican outlaw (Manuel Garcia-Rulfo), and a Comanche (Martin Sensmeier) on his own path.

Here’s a pretty good cast, and it’s really very evident that they’re all having a terrifically good time together. D’Onofrio is delightfully strange, as is his wont, and the rest of the cast seem to enjoy playing off that peculiarity. (Ten points to anyone who can identify that accent, incidentally.) Washington and Pratt are, essentially playing variations on the Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, with an engaging chemistry between the two of them.

It is, however, a chemistry predicated on Pratt playing the clown and Denzel as the straight man, which is a tragic underutilization of the latter’s skill. It’s no surprise that Pratt is a success as a character that boils down to “Star Lord by way of John Wayne,” but it’s a wonder that Denzel loses to his costar so many opportunities for clever one-liners and sarcastic reactions. This isn’t to say that Denzel himself is a disappointment – in a sense playing both the leads of Django Unchained, Denzel is charismatic and heartbreaking, determined and haunted, and (we sense) withholding a part of himself from his exterior out of a sense of duty and propriety. But it is a bit of a letdown to come to expect a leading performance out of an actor who’s modest enough to embrace his role as 14% of an ensemble.

The Magnificent Seven is not, as its title promises, magnificent. It’s not a transcendent moviegoing experience, but then again in late September I don’t think it has to be. Because on the other hand, The Magnificent Seven is not a disappointment of heroic proportions. It’s fun and fluffy and diverting, and it doesn’t do anything egregiously wrong. It’s in that Baby Bear territory of “just right,” and perhaps it’s gluttonous of me to want the Papa Bear portion of a Denzel Washington western. Moreover, it’s different enough from its predecessors to justify its existence as a variation on a theme. At any rate, keep them coming, Denzel, because I’ll be in the front row every time.

The Magnificent Seven is rated PG-13. Directed by Antoine Fuqua. Written by Nic Pizzolatto and Richard Wenk. Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D'Onofrio, Byung-hun Lee, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Martin Sensmeier, Haley Bennett and Peter Sarsgaard.

The Equalizer (2014)

I honestly don’t know how I missed this one on its initial release back in September, because it has all the hallmarks of a Cinema King must-see:  Denzel Washington, man-against-the-odds plot, Antoine Fuqua in the director’s chair, and smaller/more personal action.  It is, essentially, Taken starring Denzel Washington, and while there’s nothing groundbreaking about that equation it is a surefire way to entertain me for two hours.

Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall, a quiet man seeking peace who finds himself the unlikely avenger of young Alina (Chloe Moretz) after she falls in with the Russian Pushkin mob.  Robert’s violent actions draw the attention of a mob fixer (Marton Csokas), who’s been sent to stop Robert at all costs.

Taken was a strange picture in the sense that it wasn’t poised to be as culturally profuse as it ended up being; I’d argue that Liam Neeson’s recent renaissance has much to do with Taken, and I’ve seen impressions of the famous “certain set of skills” phone call from people that I’m relatively certain have no idea where that line comes from.  Yet here we are, a post-Taken cinematic landscape where A-list stars are leading action films that are, frankly speaking, elevated by their very presence.

Not that Fuqua has directed a bad film here.  As always, he’s directed a compelling flick better than his Olympus Has Fallen – though not, I think, better than Training Day, at which he and Denzel were at arguable peaks (and for which Denzel won a much-deserved Oscar).  Knowing nothing about the television show from which the film takes inspiration, I have to take the film on its own merits, and what we have is a very competently told straightforward vigilante narrative that delivers on all the viscera of the R-rating while developing interesting side plotlines for Robert to show off both his calm and his fury.

It is, however, somewhat by-the-numbers, with numerous Chekhov’s guns littered around the film.  When a reference is made to a security guard needing to be able to carry a person, there’s no doubt that the selfsame guard will be called upon to do just that; when we see that Robert works in a hardware store, you can only imagine what sort of garish death-traps are rigged up in one of the more memorable closed-location setpieces since the Guggenheim shootout in The International. 

Having said that, I’m not particularly upset by the fact that The Equalizer doesn’t do much in the way of innovation because the film is carried ably by Denzel himself, one of only a few actors who, it seems, can do no wrong.  He’s also that rare performer who doesn’t need to disappear into a character because his persona itself is engaging enough.  (Compare to Gary Oldman, who’s never the same person twice.)  So Robert McCall is really just another variation on the quintessential Denzel Washington character – affable man of peace, induced to violence, with a pragmatic optimism about humanity – and he continues to do it well.  As I write this, though, I’m remembering how vastly different Malcolm X is from Alonzo Harris (Training Day), John Q from Flight’s Whip Whitaker.  At their core, though, is a certain Denzel-ness, a screen presence which most performers are all too lacking.

The Equalizer ends with – no surprise, in this day and age – a wink towards future films about the character, and so long as Denzel is involved I’ll be in attendance.

The Equalizer is rated R for “strong bloody violence and language throughout, including some sexual references.”  A smattering of F-bombs and the presence of prostitution as a plot element comprise the sexual content.  The violence is somewhat bloody – not the most graphic action film by far, but there are some very creative kills with strikes and blows that you can almost feel.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

Slavoj Žižek famously remarked that September 11th had been the real-world equivalent of the disaster fantasies gleefully played out in American cinema for decades before – our secret cultural dream had come to life as a horrible nightmare.  If that’s the case, I’m concerned about what that bodes for Olympus Has Fallen, a serviceable if not entirely memorable political disaster thriller.

Essentially 24 by way of Die Hard, Olympus Has Fallen finds the White House under siege – then occupied – by North Korean forces who take the President (Aaron Eckhart) hostage.  With the Speaker of the House (Morgan Freeman) in charge, the United States government is about to accede to the terrorists’ demands before they realize they still have a man on the inside – former Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), who vows to save the President.

This movie seemed to come out of nowhere for me; I hadn’t seen any trailers until the week before it opened, and the only thing I thought I knew was, “Isn’t Channing Tatum supposed to be in that?”  (Turns out he’s doing White House Down, set to release in June.  Time will tell which one is the better variation on the theme.)  But when I heard Antoine Fuqua was directing, all I had to do was remember Training Day before plunking down in the second row.  Looking back on Fuqua’s filmography, Olympus Has Fallen is much closer in tone to his more action-y King Arthur and Shooter than the tense thriller Training Day, which perhaps owes more to Denzel Washington’s astounding performance.  But Fuqua’s ability to direct the heck out of an action sequence serves Olympus well; the initial takeover scene is dreadful in that it’s full of the dread that accompanies the inevitable.  While the film slightly overplays the patriotism card by opening and closing on an American flag, the sight of the White House under siege ought to dishearten American filmgoers, and Fuqua’s direction highlights the simplicity of its vulnerability, recalling similarly unflinching terrorist attacks from 24.

But here’s the thing about comparing Olympus Has Fallen to other entries in the political action/thriller genre – this isn’t a terribly original movie.  You’ve seen a lot of iterations of this plot before, you can telegraph most of the main beats thanks to some unsubtle foreshadowing, and to be perfectly honest the film won’t live up to some comparisons.  For example, the equally hokey Air Force One, regardless of the special place it holds in my heart, is more personal and therefore more compelling, and it’s tough to top Die Hard when it comes to movies about a man alone in occupied territory.  But if originality is the biggest misstep in Olympus Has Fallen, fine – it does well within the genre, its action sequences are fine, and its protagonist is highly engaging.

Morgan Freeman is stellar as always, especially when he grapples with the gravitas of his new responsibility.  I didn’t entirely buy the idea that he’s ill-equipped for the job, as the movie seems to insinuate; wisely, though, the film doesn’t stress this issue, especially because Freeman’s played presidential before, to some acclaim.  Eckhart continues channeling that Americanness-by-Redford, his snarling defiance of the terrorists recalling the best of his role as Harvey Dent.  But it’s Butler’s show, by far, and he’s such a good action hero that you’ll never ask yourself, “Why didn’t they get Bruce Willis?”  (From what I hear, maybe this should have been the latest Die Hard?)  Between this and 300, let’s give Butler the “next action hero” crown; he’s got the physicality down, he has the relatable everyman features, and he’s the master at those snide one-liners.

At the end of the day, though, those one-liners probably won’t stick in your head.  Olympus Has Fallen won’t be making my BluRay wish list come fall, but if I see it on cable in between bouts of channel-surfing, I’m sure I’ll stop back in.  Though it shares a few cast members, Olympus Has Fallen is no Dark Knight Rises – it is, however, enjoyable enough.

Olympus Has Fallen is rated R “for strong violence and language throughout.”  This is a pretty bloody flick with a lot of shootings and stabbings, peppered with salty language in F-sharp.

Training Day (2001)

Before we begin Depp Week 2010 here at The Cinema King, we're going to flashback to 2001 for a look at the performance that netted Denzel Washington a much-deserved Academy Award: dishonest cop Alonzo Harris in Training Day.

The film is pretty much a Denzel Washington performance with a plot and a few other actors around it, but there's a formula to a Cinema King review, so let's remain consistent: It's Jake Hoyt's (Ethan Hawke) first day on the job as a narcotics officer, and he's assigned to veteran Alonzo Harris (Washington), who's got a mean streak and a penchant for dispensing brutal "street justice." Over the course of 24 hours, Jake has to decide what side of the law Alonzo is on - and what side he himself wants to be on.

I really liked this movie - in fact, I fully expected to - so I'm not going to kid around about it. I've never met a Denzel Washington movie I didn't like, and Training Day is no exception. To keep the food metaphors going, it's a little like a steak - I'd been interested for a long time but was waiting for just the right moment; it didn't disappoint but rather is now something I'll be ready to revisit later (just not every day). It's just delicious. If I have a complaint about this movie, it's that there are scenes where Denzel isn't on camera, and when it's a performance this fine we feel cheated when he's not the permanent center of attention. (Of interesting note: an early choice for the role was Samuel L. Jackson; not sure how that would have compared to what we have here, but it makes me long for a prequel crossover between this and Lakeview Terrace.)

I've said before that the hallmark of any Denzel Washington performance is the way he conveys the fun that he's having into the audience. Maybe it's his infectious grin, or maybe it's his discreet naturalism - whatever it is, it's working. Alonzo Harris is fascinating in a way that a lot of crooked cop characters aren't; where most are fairly one-dimensional, Alonzo is unique in that he's deceptively sympathetic. Like Milton's Satan in Paradise Lost, Alonzo is compelling to the extent that the audience might actually begin sympathizing with him - coming from Alonzo, taking drugs and setting up a dealer for a fall all sound like good ideas until we remember that this is the bad guy talking. It's not difficult to see, then, why Jake begins to be seduced by Alonzo's ideas; Hawke's performance doesn't hurt, either, since here he's as good as he was in Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead.

It's part of the trivia surrounding Training Day that its screenplay was written by one man and one man only, with no team of rewriters - David Ayer, who does a taut job introducing plot aspects and tying together loose ends which seem at first to be disconnected. The dialogue is sterling, too, realistic while still presenting itself as quotable: Denzel's closing monologue is already a staple for Denzel impressionists, and you'll be riffing a few of your favorite lines in the days to come, I'll bet. Fuqua's direction is on top, too, particularly in a grueling scene in which Jake finds himself at gunpoint in a room full of angry gang members.

But the film's greatest strength is turning Denzel loose and letting him work his magic. That alone - the opportunity to see one of the greatest living actors work his magic in a role that isn't exactly the type he's known for. Training Day is a far cry from John Q (the film that introduced me to Denzel), but it's as compelling a performance as any other one he's given... and maybe it's even his best (I'm still enamored with Malcolm X as the topper).
Training Day is rated R "for brutal violence, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity." Definitely one of the more in-your-face violent movies, without shyness when it comes to gore or intensity; of course there are F-bombs galore and some heavy drug use in a few scenes, as well as an attempted rape and a fleeting scene of out-of-focus nudity.