THE EQUALIZER 2 (Malaysia, 30 Aug 2018)

Genre: Action / Thriller

Running Length: 2:05

Cast: Denzel Washington, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman, Jonathan Scarfe, Orson Bean, Ashton Sanders

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Screenplay: Richard Wenk based on the television series created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim

What's the film about?

Just like the first Equalizer movie, THE EQUALIZER 2 is a slow burn thriller which will build and build until it burst into violent outcomes.When Robert McCall (Washington) turns on his kill mode, it will usually end up in shocking and brutal consequences. No prolonged action sequences and crazy stunts like the recent Mission: Impossible.

With so much violence on screen these days, I thought I would be desensitized but there were moments in this movie which made me flinch. The difference between those films and this one - the pain here feels real.

In terms of the plot, it's not much different from the first one. Our superhero protagonist is the judge, jury, and executioner for citizens who are exploited and oppressed (Gotham's Dark Knight-like). But this time, it gets personal.

Highlights!

• Fuqua, the director really knows how to deliver nail-biting sequences; Melissa Leo's character walking back to her hotel room, a car ride and a scene in which a teen has to hide from some killers.  
• The closing action piece, which occurs at the height of a hurricane, provides a perfect setting for the climax. 
• Watching Denzel punish the villains. Something about it appeals to the middle-aged male fantasy. 

Lowlights

• There is a problem with the plotting. Too many unnecessary episodic fillers which doesn't add to the main plot. 
• The filmmakers tried introducing some dramatic elements like a surrogate father relationship between McCall and a teen who is involved with some bad company. And there's a subplot involving a very elderly Holocaust survivor. Eventhough all these side characters performed very well, their stories just didn't add anything to the table. Yes, I get it that we would know our mysterious McCall better from these relationships but there's this short scene of him talking to his former colleague in a park which was much more effective in unveiling his past than all these other subplots combined.   
• I didn't really like the final fight scene as it was too stunt double heavy (that said the final blow was still satisfying).

In summary

EQUALIZER 2 is more of the same with the first movie but at least in the latter, it had more "Bollywood action-hero" style, like the warehouse scene where McCall walks slo-mo under the sprinklers - wah...maximum alpha male fantasy unlocked. This chapter was dull despite the realistic violence.

I think what adds to the lack of excitement is also McCall's God-like indestructibility. You know he's going to survive in the end...for the next sequel.

RATING: 6/10

BATTLE OF THE SEXES

Malaysia Release Date: 25 Jan 2018

Genre: Drama

Running Length: 2:01

Cast: Emma Stone, Steve Carell, Andrea Riseborough, Natalie Morales, Sarah Silverman, Bill Pullman, Elisabeth Shue, Jessie McNamee, Austin Stowell

Director: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris 

Screenplay: Simon Beaufoy

With what's happening with the #MeToo and Time's Up movement now, BATTLE OF THE SEXES should have been a compelling watch but instead it was flat.

This movie based on true events isn’t really focused on the so-called “Battle of the Sexes” - a 1973 made-for-TV exhibition tennis match between World number one Billie Jean King (Stone) and ex-champ and hustler Bobby Riggs (Carell). Instead, it’s more of bio-pic of King’s life between 1972-73; her struggle with her sexuality and her fight for gender equality in the game of tennis.

The plot on King's first lesbian relationship felt forced. It didn't feel organic as it lacks any sort of chemistry. Instead, it's Stowell's performance as King's husband which felt more real when he discovered his wife's sexual preference. Maybe it's Stone's portrayal as the lead. As an icon of the 70s and the first gay tennis player to come out of the closet, Stone's performance didn't carry any sort of aura at all. As for Carell, he looks eerily like Riggs (according to some reviews, everything about the way Carell moves and behaves resembles the real person). 

As for the central match, it was poorly re-enacted. It lacks tension and drama. The event which was watched by millions on TV felt surprisingly small. Battle of the Sexes lacks depth and is disappointingly superficial.

RATING: 5/10

THE EQUALIZER (2014)

Genre: Thriller
Running Length: 2:13
Cast: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloe Grace Moretz, David Harbour, David Meunier, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman

Director: Antoine Fuqua 

 

"Would you do something about it because you can?"

That is basically the premise our knight in shining armour, Denzel Washington has to wrestle through in THE EQUALIZER. For the most part, this movie is a character study about an elderly man holding back his destiny because of his dark past. Antoine Fuqua (director) and Denzel Washington have collaborated before in a similar territory in Training Day, a gritty tale of police corruption with a more complex character study which was brilliantly explored but The Equalizer chose to flirt with the drama instead and focused more on the stylish (OTT at times) action scenes. Those looking for a non-stop revenge action flick (as seen in the trailer) will be disappointed as the filmmakers elected to develop this flick as a slow-burn thriller. A major portion of the running time is dedicated to set the viewers up into the right mood (the beautiful close-up shots and lingering camera work capturing the beautiful sunset over Boston) and to give a clue to who Denzel's character is (a disciplined, OCD-ish learned man. A genuinely kindhearted man with a soft spot for the oppressed and marginalized) so that when the violence starts, it's shocking and brutal. The hero scenes are from the Bollywood school of filmmaking - Denzel looks god-like as he walks calmly slo-mo across the room or away from an explosion. The action scenes are also very inventive - we get a lot of impressively choreographed hand-to-hand fight scenes using everyday items available (think Macgyver) to dispose off the uber badass baddies. Items include and not limited to; cork screws, books, sledge hammers, barb wires, a drill, broken mirrors etc If The Equalizer has any weakness, it's that Denzel's character seems to be superhuman - he is almost indestructible and can take on an army of baddies anytime (so much so that during a scene where Denzel confronts a bad guy, a cinema goer sitting nearby uttered in Cantonese, "(Profanity) lor...yi gor yau chai sei ngang" (translate: This guy is sure to meet his death)). The pacing of the movie could have also benefited from a tighter running time. In the end, The Equalizer will not carve out any new niches in the action genre (like how Die Hard did) but it's a memorable origin movie that will certainly belong at the top as one of the more successful TV-to-film adaptations, alongside the Mission: Impossible series. This is probably the ultimate Denzel movie.

Rating: 7.5/10