The Equalizer
English (A)**
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas
“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why” is the Mark Twain quote this film aptly opens with.
Denzel Washington plays the role of the protagonist in The Equalizer – Robert McCall – who has no family to care for and has the set of skills that allows him to take the law into his own hands and get away with it. He is an anonymous guardian of his surroundings and everyone in it. Even though that sounds like McCall is a superhero in the making, his personality is not what one would call healthy.
With definite signs of OCD, this man finds his vocation to be a saviour for the downtrodden quite suddenly and in an unlikely situation. Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz) and him are regulars at a diner. When he knows Teri is in trouble, a seemingly dormant Messiah complex within McCall is set off and he goes on a spree of saving people, which, of course, involves somebody else getting hurt, or even killed. McCall’s relationship with Teri, or lack thereof, does not seem to have much of a bearing on his goal. He is not in love with her nor does he feel like a father figure, he just needs to save her.
McCall is precise, impeccably clean and always keeps himself on the clock, irrespective of the task. Whether he’s brushing his teeth or driving a corkscrew through someone’s jaw, he will be timing himself. His character makes one feel disturbed and awe-inspired at the same time; you could even liken some of his traits to Batman and Patrick Batemen from American Psycho (2000).
Director Antoine Fuqua has been meticulous with the details in the film, making every scene look picturesque—from stills of an alarm clock to blood spatters on a painted wall. If reading into people’s psyche is something you like to dabble with, McCall is an ideal subject. Unless you don’t have the stomach for violence, like vile people getting killed in cold blood, this movie will not disappoint.