The first "Equalizer" film managed to be one of my favourite action films of the last decade. A sequel would have been very hard to surpass the original, though considering Denzel Washington never taking up a sequel until now, it should inspire confidence that the second film was going to be worth it. Taking place after the events of the first film, Robert McCall has moved to another neighbourhood in Boston and is working as a Lyft driver on the side, while he works as a vigilante to those seeking his help. When Susan, an old friend of his, is murdered following an investigation, he needs to learn who is behind it and deliver ruthless justice to them. What works about the sequel is that it's completely stand-alone from the first film. Outside of him becoming a vigilante of sorts, nothing from the characters to mentions of the events from the preceding film is brought up in the sequel, which gives the film to be accessible to many people compared to most sequels. However, many still had issues with the story and pacing. From the main plot of Susan's murder, McCall helping and teaching a young man dignity and responsibility, and helping others such as a old Holocaust survivor to own a long lost painting, there's about as much sub-plots as the original and all of them do manage to feel integrated into the narrative better than the first. However, people can find it cluttered and unbalanced as the main story moves slowly. The pacing is also different from the first one. Rather than having a slow first act and having action and thrills take centrefold throughout the rest of the movie, the sequel has the first act open up with action and intrigue, but has a very slow-paced second act that focuses on McCall solving the murder mystery and helping out Miles, the troubled young man. The third act returns to the action and suspense much like the first film, but at that point, some viewers might have given up by the slow second act. Personally, the second act, as seemingly uneventful it appears to be, carries some of the best character-building and moments not only of the film, but in the action genre as a whole. The tone is much more mature from the first film. Although the first film takes itself seriously, the main plot is ripped out of a typical, action romp where the main character kills evil Russian gangsters, much like "The Boondock Saints" and many others. The sequel not only has a much stronger story that feels even more grounded and raw, but the villains and characters are much more fleshed out than just the typical good and bad.
Denzel Washington returns as Robert McCall with a full head of hair and the same caliber performance he gives out that is even better than the first outing. Washington not only feels more comfortable, reserved and charismatic than ever before in the role, but he brings more depth with the character and offers a fantastic scene with him and Miles that showcases just how fantastic of an actor he is. Pedro Pascal plays Dave York, an old ally of McCall during their covert operation days who is revealed to be the antagonist, along with his team. While Teddy Rensen is an intriguing, yet pretty generic villain from the first film, York offers a more morally grey take as the villain. Not only does he have a loving family, but he chose to become an assassin after the government gave up on him and McCall's team following the latter's supposed death. He's the parallel opposite of McCall as he too also offers help and skills of combat to others, but for a price. Susan's death was mainly for business rather than personal reasons, yet it is that mistake that gives McCall the reason to not only seek his revenge, but to not even offer him a chance to redeem himself, unlike the many criminals he faced. York is simply a much more effective villain that plays off on McCall better than Rensen ever could. Ashton Sanders plays Miles, a role similar to that of Alina's vulnerable youth from the first film. Miles not only has more screentime than the teen prostitute, but is involved in all three acts of the film as his bond with McCall acts as the heart of the movie. Miles is hired by McCall to help repaint a mural in their apartment complex's courtyard due to his passion for drawing and painting. However, he is tempted to join a local gang as he not only wants to avenge his late brother's death, but believes that it will help pay more for himself and his mother. McCall delivers an emotional speech about the choice of life or death, whether it's to continue on pursuing your dreams or deciding to take on a darker path of death or harming others for profit. What is so beautiful about this scene is that you can take it out of context and apply it to any person or subject, whether it's taking drugs or suicide. Sanders offers a charismatic and loveable performance as the troubled youth that views McCall as a father figure of sorts as a result, playing off of Washington's amazing acting talents. The side characters include Susan Plummer, McCall's only friend from the agency and who helps him during his cases, Brian Plummer, Susan's husband who is made fun of for his book and is mainly spent mourning throughout the film after Susan is killed, and Sam Rubinstein, the old Holocaust survivor who is keen on finding a painting of his sister that was auctioned off, eventually leading him and his long lost sister to be reunited. Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman and the late Orson Bean all act perfectly for their roles. In fact, all of the cast is perfect, much like the first film, with their characters and development even more tightly written than before. Once again though, Washington takes the spotlight for his performance as McCall.
Antione Fuqua returns to pen the sequel and not only is his directing just as good as before, he manages to give off a different flair to the sequel that is very much welcome. Starting off with the location of Boston, they could have made it similar to before where McCall lives in the same neighbourhood and make the city look like the seedy, criminal underbelly like before. However, not only does McCall live in Roxbury, but there's clearly more attempt to have Boston not only look normal, but filled with a tad more hope. From his apartment community to the friends he's made from his help as well as his Lyft shifts, Boston feels more warmer and lively than ever. However, there's still cracks of imperfection from troubled passengers to criminals hiding behind seemingly normal faces. It's a different take on presenting the city and yet it still works really well. This is all helped by veteran cinematographer, Oliver Wood, who offers a lot of great shots that matches to Fuqua's vision, as well as some amazing shots during the action sequences. Harry Gregson-Williams returns to compose the score and it's the same old, though with a few new tracks that are effective in their respective scene, mainly the scene where Denzel is solving the murder from Brussels by imagining he was positioned as the victims. Gregson-Williams also decided to limit the use of licensed songs. Outside of hearing what Miles is listening to, there's no song playing during the climax or a tie-in song with Eminem or anything. This is honestly a good choice as although they sound fine in the first film, removing these songs allow the sequel to be more timeless. Lastly, there's the action and suspense scenes that stole part of the show in the first film. There are some satisfying sequences from the apartment beatdown of the rapists, the car assassination attempt, and the climax are all great to watch in their own right. The climax has a very interesting setting of a seaside town being ravaged by a sea-storm and some inventive kills, although I prefer the first film's climax a bit more due to the stakes and grislier kills. The first film has more bloody kills in my opinion, but the second film focuses on being raw and stylish at the same time, which I feel manages to trade each other out. There's also another great suspense scene that's centred on the villain's breaking into McCall's apartment in an attempt to kill him similar to the first film, though it's done with a different circumstance and focus instead of clever misleading by Fuqua. I can even add Susan's attack by the robbers as a suspense scene, albeit it does contain action. The sequence is just so nerve-wrecking by the brutality by both Susan and the robbers and it can be a bit hard-to-watch at times. To top that, all of these sequences are perfectly edited by seasoned editor, Conrad Buff IV. Overall, Fuqua manages to not only make another great job on the sequel, but even manages it to have its own unique identity compared to the first with the ways he switches up the action, visuals, tone, etc.
"The Equalizer 2" joins the ever-growing list of sequels that manages to surpass the original in quite a few ways. Although there's still pacing issues by some with the second act containing little action and the first act having the story placed on the back-burner, that's really about it. From the much tighter story and how the overarching sub-plots are handled better, the tone being even more serious than ever before with a less cliched narrative, Washington's reprisal performance as McCall, York being a more effective villain than the previous one, the rest of the cast being very well-acted and likeable by their actors and personalities, Wood's great cinematography, a more timeless and refined score by Gregson-Williams, another batch of fantastic action and suspense scenes edited this time by Buff, and Fuqua's signature bow of his talented filmmaking holding everything together for a very effective package. The only thing I should point out is that this as well as the first film might be for those who can't stand seeing woman suffering. The sequel is worse as we not only see a female being a victim to a drugged sexual assault, but there are two women who are brutally killed for somewhat meaningless ways motivational-wise. Outside of this trigger warning, this film has to be watched and experienced, which is not as hard considering that it's a stand-alone sequel that doesn't require one to watch the previous installment. I just hope Washington and Fuqua can unite once more for one final film in this series.
Verdict: 9/10. A brilliant sequel that expands and excels in what the original did best. If you love thought-provoking, action-thrillers with Denzel Washington in them, this has to be watched period!
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