The Equalizer (2014) - How Karma Works!

★★★★☆

I appreciate this film not because I’m a believer of a tooth for a tooth like it tends to convince, but simply because it’s really a cool, stylish, exciting piece of action cinema, and the underscore makes it much, much cooler, hands down. I feel like I’m watching ‘The Man From Nowhere’, ‘Dredd’ and ‘Leon The Professional’ at the same time. I don’t know. I’m always fascinated by a story about a righteous smart super skilled loner, after struggles, deciding to do the right thing by taking a thousand assholes into his own hands, though I know that’s not the right way to serve law and justice after all.

The story’s straight. The camerawork is impressive. The pace, the close-ups, the slo-mo action sequences are stunning. Denzel Washington is exceptionally competent at playing Robert McCall, a mysterious superhero cold-blooded to the scum but warm-hearted to the weak and innocent. The film lasts like more than 2 hours, but still you feel like it’s kind of short, as we’re not yet told who the hell Robert McCall really is. It’s dropped some clues but we may have to wait till the sequel to get the whole picture.

‘The Equalizer’ opens with one of Mark Twain’s famous quotes: the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why. Robert promised the one he loves that he would leave his past behind and begin again, but at some point he just can’t seem to quit doing what he was born to do. Guess most of us would share his struggle in a sense but you know the truth is, the day you are born marks the beginning of all your suffering, and the day you find out why marks the beginning of the end of it, hopefully. That’s why those two days should be remembered!

Do we really need some guy like Robert McCall to do the right thing for us while law enforcement fails? The thing is, what one considers is right could be very wrong to the other. And if the right thing means an eye for an eye, it’s never the way for sure! Violence can never bring peace or love or whatsoever. It’ll only generate more violence. That’s how karma works. What goes around goes around. Such a character like McCall can only exist in cinema just to entertain. But in reality, if you want some peace, please give peace!