[Netflix] The Equalizer (2014)

[Mr.ShoK]

the equalizer (2014)

 

 

The Equalizer is a 2014 American vigilante action film directed by Antoine Fuqua, loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name. Written by Richard Wenk, it stars Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour, Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo. The film focuses on a former U.S. Marine turned DIA intelligence officer who reluctantly returns to action to protect a teenage prostitute from members of the Russian mafia. Principal photography began in June 2013 in Massachusetts.

The Equalizer had its world premiere at 2014 Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 2014, and was released worldwide on September 26, 2014, in conventional and IMAX theaters. It received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visual style, direction, acting, soundtrack, and action sequences but criticized its depictions of violence and plot. Nonetheless, it became a commercial success with a worldwide gross of over $192 million on a production budget of $55–73 million.

A sequel was released on July 20, 2018, with Washington, Wenk, and Fuqua returning. A third film is in the works with Washington reprising his role and Fuqua returning to direct.

Plot

 

Robert McCall lives in Boston, working at a Home Mart hardware store while spending some late nights reading in a diner where he befriends Alina, a teenage prostitute working under the name Teri for the Russian mafia.

One night, Alina is hospitalized after being beaten by her pimp, Slavi. McCall visits Alina's hospital room and speaks with her friend, Mandy, then visits Slavi and offers to buy Alina's freedom. Slavi refuses, so McCall kills Slavi and his men.

Vladimir Pushkin, Slavi's boss and a powerful Russian mafia kingpin, sends his enforcer, Teddy Rensen, to find and eliminate the culprit. Rensen visits Mandy, questioning her about who could have killed Slavi. Mandy tells him what she knows about the "black man" who had come to visit Alina in the hospital. Teddy then kills her.

Rensen tracks down and visits McCall at his apartment, posing as a police officer, and later makes an unsuccessful attempt to capture him. McCall then visits old friend and DIA colleague Susan Plummer, who uses her resources to give him information on Pushkin and his operations. Plummer also informs McCall that Teddy Rensen's real name is Nicolai Itchenko and he is a former member of the Russian secret police with Spetsnaz training.

McCall subdues Frank Masters, a crooked detective on Pushkin's payroll. From Masters, McCall obtains a memory stick loaded with information about Pushkin's illegal activities, which he emails to the FBI. McCall then confronts Nicolai at a restaurant, revealing that he knows his history and pledging to bring down Pushkin's criminal enterprise. Later, McCall destroys oil tankers belonging to Pushkin.

Nicolai and his henchmen go to the Home Mart store and take several of McCall's co-workers hostage. After arriving at the store, McCall kill Nicolai's henchmen one by one, and eventually confronts Nicolai and kills him with a nail gun.

Three days later, McCall travels to Moscow, kills all of Pushkin's guards at his mansion, and tricks him into electrocuting himself. After his return to the United States, McCall is approached by Alina outside a neighborhood grocery store, learning that she has started a new life after being freed from Slavi's control. She thanks McCall for giving her a second chance. McCall is inspired to continue using his skills to help people in need and posts an online advertisement, now identifying himself as "The Equalizer".

 

Cast

[Denzel Washington] as Robert McCall
[Marton Csokas] as Nicolai Itchenko (Teddy Rensen)
[Chloë Grace Moretz] as Teri (Alina)
[David Harbour] as Masters
[Haley Bennett] as Mandy
[Bill Pullman] as Brian Plummer
[Melissa Leo] as Susan Plummer
[David Meunier] as Slavi
[Johnny Skourtis] as Ralphie
[Alex Veadov] as Tevi
[Vladimir Kulich] as Vladimir Pushkin
[E. Roger Mitchell] as the lead investigator