The Equalizer 2 (2018) - Not As Good But Not Bad!

★★★☆☆

2014’s ‘The Equalizer’ is a damn cool, rare piece of action cinema that I’d like to revisit when I’m alone and bored, longing to be entertained and thrilled and compelled to think about stuff like the use of violence in pursuit of so called justice! I’ve, therefore, been expecting the sequel to come.

Here it is, ‘The Equalizer 2’, which is by no means a complete letdown or a failure like most people out there tend to see it. Right, the pace is a bit dragged out! The story is sort of routine and predictable. The action sequences are surprisingly few and not as exhilarating after all, especially the final combat that is more or less of an anti-climax to be honest. I however, appreciate those conversations and pep talks between fights, its consistent mood and the heart-pounding score, though Denzel’s performance here is far from impressive! I don’t know. Maybe I’m already so sick of mindless action films that provide nothing more than massive blood and violence and exaggerated stunts. ‘The Equalizer 2’ is gladly not a film like that.

Denzel’s Robert McCall said in the opening of the film, that there’re two kinds of pain in this world. The pain that hurts. And the pain that alters! What it’s trying to say here is, pain certainly has the power to either destroy you or make you stronger and wiser. Like it or not, there’s pain as long as there’s joy! You can’t get rid of pain unless you can turn down the temptation of joy, but can you? Besides, the greatest pain is not the physical or emotional one. It’s the realization that you’re here already as a victim of time, and there’s nothing you can do to change it!