(From syracusenewtimes.com)
Denzel Washington runs around in “The Equalizer” vanquishing evil as if he should be wearing tights and appearing in a title put out by the Marvel Universe.
Robert McCall starts out as a guy who wants to mind his own business in this action thriller, he really, really does. In fact, he’s trying to dodge a mysterious past that the movie-makers don’t want us to know about too soon. Except, of course, that this film is loosely adapted from the 1980s CBS drama series of the same name in which the star is a former intelligence agent turned Good Samiritan.
So.
McCall in the movie version all these years later works in a big box score, likes his co-workers, befriends a neighborhood hooker who really is a nice young woman with bigger dreams and …
Can’t keep himself from settling the score when Russian gangsters cross his friends in awful ways.
Washington moves in stealthy ways and his character kills in intensely violent, personal manners. It’s dramatic and suspenseful and full of blood and guts.
If you’d like to read my weekly Film Review blog on the attractive Syracuse New Times site, click the link below.
http://www.syracusenewtimes.com/the-equalizer/
Are you a fan of this lawman/agent track that Denzel Washington’s career has taken, and if so, what do you like about these movies? How much violence is too much violence for you when you decide what movie to see? Do you think Russian Americans should start protesting the way Hollywood is portraying their heritage as the go-to ethnic bad guy these days?
Mark Bialczak 
Hey Mark! I love Denzel, and though I am not a fan of violence, when it plays heavily to a storyline, I can handle it (if the story is good overall). I have to admit, one of my fav Denzel shows is “Man On Fire” and it is pretty violent. Having said that, the violence was a necessitated reaction (well, in my opinion anyway, if it was my child!). I’ll probably wait for this one to come to cable, as there are a few new ones I really would like to see 🙂 It’s taking me a while to catch up – been pulled in a lot of directions lately, so I am slowly blog stalking you LOL!!! Enjoying your reviews – those here & at the SNT, as I read them both!
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Thank you for your slow and steady reading of my reviews, Sadie. I reallly appreciate it, my friend.
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This will be on my list in October to try and get out of the redbox, if not then, maybe by Easter… My Mom and two brothers love lively action movies, with a lot of twists and turns. They liked, “Reds” and “Reds II” or 2? and “The Last Stand,” with Arnold Schwarenegger, along with all the other ones that come out with blood and guts. My Mom and I will watch older movies, her basking in her memories. Also, she does like comediest that include romance! I liked the original Equalizer, Mark, too!
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Enjoy, Robin, but it’s not really like the old “Equalizier.” Way more modern.
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I don’t mind blood, guts and violence as long as it’s not unnecessary to the plot if that makes sense. I think it’s silly if they’re portraying Russians as bad and the setting is current. But if this was based on the 80s TV show and was set in that time, then I can see why Communism was still a factor.
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No, it’s now, Rachel. They all have smart phones.
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Ah! Well, then that’s just weird that they’d do that. I don’t even think a lot of younger people today probably even know what it was like when we had the “fear of Communism” way back.
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Here’s why: They surmise that the Russians went wild when exposed to capitalism and the ability to make money and also apply the old gangster strata of the communist ways. My assumption here.
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I guess if the audience grew up watching Get Smart, it could fly. 🙂
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Love Denzel, but really think there has just been too much violence coming out of the movies and TV shows. Too many people are taking it to the streets, schools (UK this morning) and it is totally out of hand. I avoid all violence in movies, TV shows, books, and actually don’t even watch the news any more, because all they show is the bad stuff. I’m glad I’m old, because I hate the way the world is going and really don’t want to live long enough to see the end. And somehow, I can see the end in my binoculars if I hold them just the right way.
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I hope you are wrong, Angie. You have to be.
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I hope I am Mark, I really hope I am, but I am really happy that I am old as dirt now and probably won’t have to live to see the end. I’ve watched our town leaders tear up our river front and turn it all into concrete, including the trees, and I know I’ll never again be able to walk along the paths I loved because now if I fall it would crush every bone in my body. The path we had before would have cushioned any falls. We are a town of 57,000, but have the smog level of a city of 500,000, because our leaders are ripping out the green and replacing it with concrete. If they are doing this in a town this small, what are they doing in the large cities? Our generations have effectively poisoned a planet that has been sustaining life for millions of years, yet, since WWII, we have killed off most of the rain forests, poisoned the water, including the oceans, made the air unbreathable, and created a group of humans who want only to kill each other off in the most inhumane ways possible. All this in less than a century, Mark. The ground is contaminated, garbage is dumped in the water supply, and this all makes me so sad I want to sit and cry, but instead I try to find some humor in my day, just so I won’t think about what is happening around me. And all of it in my lifetime.
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I know, Angie. My lifetime, too.
But our children and grandchildren can reclaim it, and technology will allow them to do so. Wisdom has to trump greed. We shall see.
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I love that man (*fans herself…). 🙂 Not sure I will see it though because of the mad amounts of violence. I can do without that part.
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Dilemma, isn’t it, Mrs. B?
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I love Denzel. But this is the kind of movie for me at this time of my life. I’m back to animated stuff with the grandkids! And superheroes! 😉
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Good stuff for the grandkids, Colleen. Not this. Nope. Not at all.
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i love the visual of denzel in tights ) that being said, i do love his movies of law and justice, though some times the violence is hard for me to watch.
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There’s law and justice and then there’s vigilalante retribution run amok. Nevertheless, Denzel does that with his usual dash.
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Thinking that maybe I liked Denzel best as the tooth fairy…wait that wasn’t him that was The Rock. Passing in this movie unless I have to…
75 Anniversary of Gone With The Wind this week and being viewed locally this week by me. Sorta looking forward to Wednesday night. 🙂
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You enjoy Scarlett and Rhett, now Red. I’m glad I finally sat down with Karen last year and watched “Gone with the Wind” to plug that particular culture gap.
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I’ve only seen parts of it. Does Karen like it?
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Loves it, Aud.
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I like Denzel, but last week on Letterman, he says he watches his movies only once and then never again. That seems odd. You’re asking the public to come appreciate this new movie, but you won’t even watch it twice to get all the nuances? I think Russians and Germans will be bad guys forever. That’s just the way it is, baby.
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That’s a fine line, the watch a lot vs. not watch too much thing, Kerbey. Back at the big daily, I could tell when questioning some musicians or authors or actors about their biggest projects that they had reached the “over-the-limit” stage and wished never to hear another question or utter another quote about that hit album/book/movie/TV show again. Human nature, I guess. Others, however, seemed like they could talk about it until I got tired of hearing their voice. And I never knew which it would be until after I asked.
Yeah, Russians and Germans, Kerbey. Used to be Japanese and even American Indians, too, but not anymore. So things can and do change in that realm. Thankfully. Unfortunately, Hollywood always needs to label a scapegoat ethnicity.
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It can all be ISIS guys now. I would like to see them explode into a million pieces. 🙂 And pronto.
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Good call there, Kerbey.
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Hi Mrak! I also am not a fan of a lot of gratuitous violence. I avoid such movies. However that being said, I really enjoy Denzel Washington’s acting. Still, I wouldn’t watch a violent movie just to see him.
Thanks for the review – I’ll avoid this show for sure.
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As you can probably tell, I avoid the blood-and-guts genre, too, Paul. I do like Denzel, so this one left me conflicted. The violence was so personal, too. Yow.
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Mark, I’m not a fan of blood and guts at all. And Denzel is such an excellent actor (Philadelphia!) that I’m wondering what’s behind his choice of films lately. Maybe a shortage of good roles?
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Maybe a shortage of good roles offered to him at his age, Barbara. Or maybe these are the higest-paying roles. So much goes into Hollywood, it’s hard to tell. But blood-and-guts, no, not my favorite, either.
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I agree of late he has been playing dark characters. He will probably get an award for this when some of his better movies haven’t. Like John Q.
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We shall see, Kim. Awards are vey hard to figure, I agree.
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