The Equalizer 2, starring Denzel Washington in the lead as a lethal Lyft driver. Who is out on a mission to help those people who have been through injustice in life. The movie is a sequel to the 2014’s hit action thriller film The Equalizer.
In the first part of The Equalizer franchise, Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington, is a man with a hidden past who tries to live a normal life by working at a hardware store, but circumstances drag him into a mess, and he goes against a dangerous Russian mafia gang.
In the 2nd movie, The Equalizer 2, we see Denzel reprising his role as Robert McCall, but this time he’s working as a Lyft driver who uses his specific set of lethal skills to help those who have gone through injustice.
The Equalizer 2, just like its previous film, is an action-packed movie that has some of the best action scenes that you will see in a Hollywood movie. Denzel Washington, as we all know, is a great actor, and he nails it here in this movie.
But for those who are new to The Equalizer movie series and want to figure out if they are worth your time or not, then you can definitely rely on our review. Here we shall cover all the details regarding The Equalizer 2 plot, its cast details, Denzel Washington’s character analysis, and the review of The Equalizer 2.
Cast Of The Equalizer 2
The lead actors of Equalizer 2 are:
Antoine Fuqua: The Equalizer 2 is directed by Antoine Fuqua, who is responsible for creating some of the best modern Hollywood action movies, like Olympus Has Fallen, Training Day, etc…
Denzel Washington: A really talented actor who has worked in some of the most critically acclaimed films like Training Day, Malcolm X, Fences, etc… In this movie, he plays the lead role of Robert McCall, a man with a secret past, who delivers justice to people faced injustice in life.
Pedro Pascal: The Mandalorian star, who is also known for his role in Netflix’s acclaimed TV series Narcos. Here he is playing an important character called Dave York, who is an old acquaintance of Robert McCall.
Ashton Sanders plays the role of Miles Whittaker, who has previously worked in the Oscar-winning movie Moonlight. He has a very crucial role in the film, which actually helps us to see the human side of Robert McCall.
Denzel Washington is The Lethal Lyft Driver In The Equalizer 2
Denzel Washington’s character Robert McCall is a former US Marine and an Intelligence Officer, who has left his violent past behind and tries to live a happy, normal life. In the 1st movie, we were never really shown what his past was, nor in the 2nd movie, we get any particular detail about his past, except for his profession, that we now know how he is capable of taking down some of the dangerous criminals from the movie.
He Is Lethal With a Firearm
Being a former Marine, Robert has gone through all the training and experiences that one needs to master the use of firearms. He can use various kinds of weapons like pistols, shotguns, submachine guns, etc… And he can shoot with great accuracy. Like the way he shot the Russian mob boss accurately in his throat in The Equalizer (2014). He can make weapons out of anything, that, in my opinion, is a really lethal skill.
Expert In Hand To Hand Combat
Robert knows various kinds of martial arts like boxing, Krav Maga, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Eskrima etc… which makes him more lethal even without a firearm or a weapon.
High Intelligence & Great Physical Ability
Robert is a really fit guy and has great reflexes, majorly due to his years of experience as a Marine, along with that, he is highly intelligent. He is a master strategist, as we have seen in both movies, where there were circumstances where Robert’s life was in danger, but he made such great strategies that he was able to escape from his enemies with little to no fight, which is truly remarkable.
Along with that, he is an avid reader and reads a lot of books on philosophy, strategy, nutrition, etc…. One of the best examples is when Robert is talking with Anika (played by Chloe Grace from The Equalizer (2014) where he talks about the lessons he learned from the old man and the fish book.
An avid reader, a man who has lots of knowledge of various fields, who is an expert in the use of firearms, has peak human abilities, knows martial arts, and overall he is always aware of what he is doing.
In my opinion, he would be one of the most lethal people that you will ever encounter.
The Equalizer 2 Plot & Spoilers
The Equalizer 2’s story revolves around Robert McCall, who now lives in Boston and works as a Lyft driver. The movie opens up with Robert going on a mission to get the daughter of a store owner whom he knows personally. He meets the kidnappers on a train, which ensues in an intense fight, Robert beats them all and gets the girl.
He soon returns back to his normal life and starts his job as a Lyft driver. He then meets Miles Whittaker (the actor from Moonlight), a young boy who has lots of artistic talents, but social and financial conditions are holding him back, so Robert decides to help him, and he becomes a good friend and a mentor of Miles. Soon the tone of the story shifts when Robert meets Susan, an old friend of Robert who dies while investigating a suicide case.
Susan’s death breaks Robert’s heart, and he gets determined to find those who are behind it. After analyzing Susan’s murder video, Robert deduces that it was a planned attack and Susan was their main target and that the case she was trying to solve was actually a planned murder and not a suicide.
After this, Robert gets attacked in his car, which ensues in an intense car fight scene where Robert kills the assassin and finds that he was sent by Dave York (another old acquaintance of Robert).
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It is then revealed that Dave (played by Pedro Pascal), who used to work with Susan is actually a traitor and has now turned into a mercenary. Robert swears that he will get his revenge for Susan’s death and would have no mercy for those who were behind her murder. This begins an interesting cat-and-mouse game between Robert and Dave’s squad.
This ultimately leads us to an action-packed climax where Dave’s squad kidnaps Miles Whittaker, and Robert is out to battle Dave’s mercenary squad in a thrilling climax.
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The Equalizer 2 Review
Upon its release, the movie received mixed reviews from critics who particularly praised Denzel Washington’s performance and Antoine Fuqua’s direction. But criticized the plot for being nothing new. Although the audience seemed to love the movie, the movie became a box office hit, grossing close to $200 Million.
The Equalizer 2 though, was less effective compared to its prequel The Equalizer (2014), which had a great visual style and cool action sequences. Especially the slow-motion fight scene from the first movie, which received a lot of praise from the audience.
Just like the first Equalizer movie, which had a relatively simple plot. But as Gareth Evans once said (the director of the cult classic action movie series The Raid), a great action film does not require a mind-blowing story, it just needs a good storyline, interesting characters, and a well-written conflict which are enough to aid the story part of the movie. And the rest depends on how well the action sequences are crafted.
The Equalizer 2 has a really simple plot, agreed. But it has some of the best well-crafted action sequences. For example, the car fight scene, the credit card fight scene, and above all, the intense climax action sequence where Denzel’s character kills every mercenary from Dave’s team one by one, without any mercy. You Can Watch The Equalizer 2 On Netflix.
Our overall rating for The Equalizer 2 is 6.7/10.
And 7/10 for the movie’s well-crafted action scenes.
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