Movie · 2014 · Thriller, Action, Crime · 2h 12m · R · English
Curator score: 3.8/10 (849.4K ratings)
What do you see when you look at me?
Overview
McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.8/10
IMDb: 7.3/10
Letterboxd: 3.44/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 61%
Metacritic: 57
TMDB: 7.3/10
Director
Antoine Fuqua
Production
Lonetree Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, Escape Artists, LStar Capital, Mace Neufeld Productions
Cast
Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Haley Bennett, Bill Pullman, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Alex Veadov, Vladimir Kulich, E. Roger Mitchell, James Wilcox, Mike O'Dea, Anastasia Mousis Sanidopoulos, Allen Maldonado, Rhet Kidd, Mike Morrell, Matt Lasky, Shawn Fitzgibbon
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Philo, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A sturdy, highly watchable revenge thriller elevated by Denzel Washington’s calm, lethal charisma and Fuqua’s efficient action staging. It’s often corny and mechanically plotted, but the precision, violence, and oddball charm make it an easy cable rewatch.
Best for
Viewers who like polished vigilante action with a strong lead performance
Fans of grim but crowd-pleasing crime thrillers
People who enjoy inventive, tool-based action set pieces
Anyone in the mood for a slick, late-night rewatch movie
Skip if
You want grounded realism or moral complexity over wish-fulfillment
You dislike formulaic revenge plots
You’re turned off by stylized violence and occasional silliness
You prefer action films with a lighter tone or more humor
Overview
The Equalizer works best as a star vehicle, and Denzel Washington knows exactly how to turn a familiar vigilante setup into something cool, controlled, and a little mythic. McCall is introduced as a man trying to live quietly, but the movie is really about the pleasure of watching competence return in carefully measured bursts. Fuqua stages the violence cleanly and gives the action a tactile, almost procedural feel that makes every improvised weapon land with extra satisfaction.
Worth noting
The script is blunt and sometimes ridiculous, but that bluntness is part of the appeal. It’s a movie that wants you to enjoy the rhythm of escalation: the patient setup, the public humiliation of bad guys, the sudden eruptions of brutality, and the increasingly elaborate traps. That can make it feel less like a thriller than a fantasy of righteous retaliation, but the movie commits hard enough that the fantasy mostly works.
Bottom line
What keeps it from being more than a very good genre machine is that it rarely surprises emotionally. Still, as a piece of polished, late-era studio action with a memorable lead and a strong sense of place, it’s easy to recommend to anyone who likes their revenge stories efficient, nasty, and just a little absurd.
Top Letterboxd reviews
demi adejuyigbe · 4603 likes
motherfucker doesn't say "you're about to get equalized" even ONCE
Matt Singer (3.5★) · 2606 likes
This is what is going to happen. This ridiculous, hilarious movie is going to play on cable. You are going to reluctantly watch it. You're going to end up watching the whole thing even though you have other things to do. Then it's going to play on cable again, and you're going to watch it again, particularly the later scenes when it basically becomes HOME ALONE in Home Depot (a.k.a. Home Depot Alone). You are going to repeat this several… more This is what is going to happen. This ridiculous, hilarious movie is going to play on cable. You are going to reluctantly watch it. You're going to end up watching the whole thing even though you have other things to do. Then it's going to play on cable again, and you're going to watch it again, particularly the later scenes when it basically becomes HOME ALONE in Home Depot (a.k.a. Home Depot Alone). You are going to repeat this several… more
Joe A (3.5★) · 1397 likes
Denzel kills people with various tools whilst inside a knockoff Home Depot to a song called “Vengeance”. It’s corny but works for 2 reasons:
- it’s violent- Denzel fucking sells it.
Good movie.
fran hoepfner (3★) · 1044 likes
I love when the equalizer takes Boston public transportation