The Equalizer (2014)

Denzel strikes back ... aka "The Equalizer" ... aka the movie that competes with "How to Train Your Dragon 2" for 2014's title of "top eye-strain generator" caused by the number of eye-rolls/minute ...

I don't know if and what should I write about the subject. The trailer should be enough. The movie is a cliche from the beginning to the end. We have the lonely guy, about who nobody knows nothing, and who proves to be an ex-ultra/super/extra skilled secret agent (retired, of course). And one day the lonely guy decides to get back into action as the superhero mentioned in the title (without a mask, just with a black shirt, doesn't matter when and where .. even on different continents, the same black shirt - you should check that out if you see the movie). To be even more convinced of his super-skills, he seems to have something against real weapons, and is using anything else he can before taking a gun on his hand (the devices-of-death including stuff that ranges from a corkscrew to a drilling pistol). Or I don't know ... maybe it's hard to get out of his perfect cover as a shop employee in a home depot chain. The bad guys are obviously Russians tattooed from head to toes (honestly, if somebody ever forces me to watch this again my target will be to see if I'm able to spot a non-tattooed Russian thug). The most villain of the villains is a Russian with a British accent wearing a suit (main villains should look classy). Doesn't matter if it's a business dinner or he has a shotgun in his hands - he still has to wear the suit. Between the perfectly synced explosions (which of course, come with a dazzling slow-motion camera work), removed eyes, broken necks and other traumatic events, we also have mixed some educational morals that tells us to eat healthy and read classic literature (preferably American). I think I covered enough. What's left to say ...

If Denzel wouldn't have the main role in this, and if the production team wouldn't have bothered that much to get out something that should look like a box-office contender, I think I could consider this a B movie. I was hoping for a sort of "Man on Fire", but unfortunately Antoine Fuqua is not what Tony Scott was. He's not even the same Antoine Fuqua who impressed with "Training Day" and even with his first movie, "Replacement Killers". The point he got to and where unfortunately seems to be stuck is at the same level of cheap consumerism as for "Olympus has Fallen".

Rating: 3 out of 5 (really hard ... the start quote convinced me, barely: "The two most important days of your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why." by Mark Twain - probably the best part of the movie)