Denzel Washington doesnt have to say a word. He can do more with a move, a head tilt, a shot of fire in the eye than most actors do with pages of dialogue. Thats a star, baby. Washington drives The Equalizer, an updated, ultraviolent take on the 1980s TV series starring Edward Woodward. Now its Washingtons turn to step into the role of retired special-ops agent Robert McCall. He uses a job at a Boston Home Depot-like store as a cover while he heaps rough justice on criminal scum.
The material shows its age when McCall goes all Taxi Driver to save a teen hooker (a scrappy Chlo Grace Moretz) from her pimps. But Washington and director Antoine Fuqua, who teamed for the actors Oscar-winning role in 2001s Training Day, keep the action humming. The film runs long, at 131 minutes, but the takedown of a psycho Russian fixer (Marton Csokas) is sweet agony, and Washington, as ever, is the essence of cool.