News  ·  04 | 08 | 2018

High Tension

The Equalizer 2 - Piazza Grande

While the contemporary action-thriller is heading towards extraordinary sequences and special effects worthy of the biggest disaster-movies, The Equalizer 2 by Antoine Fuqua goes in the opposite direction: drying out the action until it becomes strictly necessary. The filmmaker pulls off a movie in which entertainment is set primarily by tension. This process has been adopted directly from the Western, a genre whose storytelling – especially in terms of rhythm – looks to be a constant source of inspiration for Fuqua. Once the unjustified exhibition has been erased and replaced by necessary pathos, the director achieves a sequel that is way more solid and effective than the original. Thanks to the simple expedient of making the quest for vengeance personal, main character Robert McCall’s psychological and narrative journey becomes more believable and better structured via Richard Wenk and Michael Sloan’s screenplay. Even Denzel Washington looks more comfortable in his role, adding tiny but significant introspective sides that make McCall more relatable to the audience.

Inspired by masterpieces like Pale Rider by Clint Eastwood and High Noon by Fred Zinnemann, The Equalizer 2 is an action-thriller developed with intensity towards a stunning final showdown. A sort of old-style movie, dry and dense, that shows how this genre is still capable of delivering strong characters to connect with, alongside first-rate entertainment. In the end, it’s just about making movies with some lucidity, rather than just millions of dollars…