Longtime collaborators Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington deliver yet again with the sequel to the 2014 action thriller The Equalizer. Fuqua and Washington have been working together since 2001 when the duo released Training Day. The film won Washington an Academy Award for best actor. The duo would come back together in 2014 to release The Equalizer. This is the first sequel Washington and Fuqua have ever done, even individually. The first film of this two movie series (so far) starring Washington and Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass/Carrie). Now, the duo returns and Robert McCall is back with a score to settle and the heart of an angel.

The first Equalizer was about Robert McCall, a quiet man who was a U.S. Marine turned secret government assassin helping a girl named Teri escape Russian mobsters. He had retired from the government on his own terms and occasionally comes out of retirement to help the helpless. The new film focuses on McCall trying to make his neighborhood better and help the helpless. He also gets caught up in trying to avenge the death of his longtime friend Susan Plummer played by Melissa Leo (The Fighter).

There are many subplots in the film that help with the overall plot. An old man trying to find his sister that he lost during the Holocaust, trying to steer a neighborhood kid on the right path, and of course helping the helpless. Each subplot grows into a different branch that helps build the story or main tree. They all show that McCall who has lived a long life of brutality and violence is trying to do better in his life.

The acting performances in this film are really well done. The action sequences are more Hollywood-esque and not as gritty as normal for Fuqua. They are still amazing and gory. Washington puts together a hell of a performance, it’s like McCall is a character he can channel so gracefully. Pedro Pascal (Narcos) plays his role perfectly as the film’s villain. Ashton Sanders (Moonlight) really does well in his role as Miles, a young man who must make a decision that will ultimately change his future.

For both Fuqua and Washington to have this be the first sequel they’ve ever done, this film was awesome. Richard Wenk, who has worked with Fuqua and Washington on their last three projects together helped piece the film together wonderfully. The beginning to the end has you on edge because of all the plot twist and action. Wenk has worked on numerous big Hollywood action films and he shows his skills here. Between the cast, the director, and the crew, The Equalizer 2 turns out to be a great low budget action film.

Rating: 7.5/10

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– Rascal F. Kennedy

If you have a problem and there is nowhere else to turn, the mysterious and elusive Robert McCall will deliver the vigilante justice you seek. This time, however, McCall’s past cuts especially close to home when thugs kill Susan Plummer — his best friend and former colleague. Now out for revenge, McCall must take on a crew of highly trained assassins who’ll stop at nothing to destroy him.