The Equalizer franchise brings neighborhood watch to a whole new level.  If you think the grumpy old man on his porch watching you walk up your drive-way is bad, be glad that he’s not an ex-military, Krav Maga trained, retiree with a vendetta on society.  Unlike the first installment, the second Equalizer movie tries to add more depth to what was a very linear story in the first movie.  In that attempt they try to tell three different plot lines simultaneously and almost lose your attention in doing so.  If not for the brutal and excellently choreographed fight scenes placed in key moments, The Equalizer 2 would struggle to hold your attention long enough to appreciate the things it does well.  It felt like every time the movie was beginning to ramp up they would shift gears to a different plot and lose the momentum built from the previous.  This makes the two hour run time feel very dragged out.

Denzel Washington (Robert McCall) brings true professionalism to every role he takes.  As in the first Equalizer, he delivers a very strong performance of a bystander with a desire to defend the voiceless victims.  He says more in this movie with a blank stare then some can with a page of lines.  The Equalizer 2 is very much carried by Denzel himself.  Every other role is a true supporting effort.  With running multiple plots in one movie it made it hard for any other performance to shine.  Pedro Pascal (Dave York) plays lead support and gives a lackluster performance when compared to his Game of Thrones work.  Every other performance was adequate enough to drive the movie forward, yet none rose to the level of the seasoned veteran.

Those that enjoyed the first movie will appreciate the effort made to continue this franchise but leave without the same excitement the first Equalizer brought to the screen.  It’s understandable to feel the need to explore mysterious characters backgrounds, though I feel with this franchise they didn’t need to.  The audience would of been happy with another defender of the weak story.  Instead they got a sprinkle of that amongst two other plots that feels as if the producers just couldn’t decide which one to go full ahead with.  It was a barely enjoyable movie that teetered on the boring side.  The fight choreography are the best parts of the movie and make the movie worth viewing in whichever medium you see fit.  Any Denzel performance is worth viewing once and that’s all this movie will probably get.