An intense and towering performance from Denzel Washington as one of cinema's best-acted action heroes is what makes THE EQUALIZER stand out from the crowd, although as a film it's also a very decent thriller. It's supposedly a big screen version of the '80s TV series with Edward Woodward, although think of it as your usual vigilante movie and you'll be closer.
Let's be honest here: the plotting in THE EQUALIZER is nothing special, and the Russian mob make for clichéd villains. It's the execution where this film excels. It's not an action filled movie, but when the action hits it's hard and heavy, not shying away from crowd-pleasing violence meted out to the villains. The extended set-piece ending might be described as 'DIE HARD in B&Q' and loses the realism a little but, but until that point this is tough and gritty film-making.
Aside from the excellent Washington, we get a fine bad guy performance from Martin Csokas, equally intense and the finest I've seen from him, and Chloe Grace Moretz is wisely kept off-screen for most of the running time, which I was fine with. The final shout-out goes to director Antoine Fuqua, whose effortless style makes this a graceful and thoroughly entertaining viewing experience.
