THE EQUALIZER

Sony Pictures

Rated R

Running time: 132 Minutes

Click below to watch a movie trailer of The Equalizer.



In Sony Pictures The Equalizer, hardware depot manager Denzel Washington takes it upon himself to protect a hooker Chloe Grace Moretz from her pimp David Meunier  - and soon goes up against the Russian Mafia.

Living an ordinary life as a hardware manager, at a hardware depot that is based on Home Depot and Lowes, Washington works closely with his fellow hardware workers, including security guard applicant Johnny Skourtis. Washington soon makes friends with Moretz who is interested in Washington's books. After Moretz is beaten by Meunier, Washington goes after Meunier - who happens to be with the Russian Mafia.

Based on the TV show The Equalizer that starred Edward Woodward, and Directed by Antoine Fuqua, The Equalizer is about a former government operative who offers his services in helping people who have the odds against them. In the movie, Washington meets with his former government colleagues Bill Pullman and Melissa Leo about Marton Csokas, a Russian enforcer who was assigned to find out what happened to Meunier. The adversarial relationship between Csokas and Washington was most interesting to me. It is interesting that Washington's character had no real back story in the movie so Washington created his own back story for his character, with the character having obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

While a popular TV series, I had never watched The Equalizer at the time. I have a feeling that the movie took on more of the style of the TV show in that the movie was more of a suspense thriller - rather than an action film, which some people might think the movie would seem to be. But make no mistake that the violence in the movie is fairly graphic.

At the end of the movie, I was pleasantly surprised to read that The Equalizer was Written by someone I used to work with at Showtime, Richard Wenk. Sony Pictures plan on doing a sequel to The Equalizer with Richard writing the script. I hope they keep Richard, not just because I know him, but so that there will be more of a coherent consistency to the next movie. Fuqua hopes the sequel to be more international.

Rated R for graphic violence and language. Running time: 132 minutes.

Pancho
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The Mechanic

CBS Films

Rated R

Running time: 93 minutes
































Click below to watch The Mechanic trailer.



In CBS Films The Mechanic, Jason Statham is a "Mechanic" - otherwise known as a hit man. When his mentor Donald Sutherland is killed, Statham reluctantly takes on Sutherland's hothead son Ben Foster as his trainee as they both go after the people responsible for Sutherland's death.

A remake of The Mechanic that starred Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent, this movie shows that being a Mechanic is a profession and the type of "hits" Statham is required to do is almost an art form. I like the quote that "the best jobs are the ones, nobody ever knows you were there." While I have never seen the original film - and granted one of the reasons I saw this current film was that someone that I have worked with in Hollywood, Richard Wenk, co-wrote the script - I liked how Statham trained Foster, stressing the homework and surveillance as well as the weapons training. Stathan and Foster basically become a professional choreographed team, despite Foster's rashness. There is also more characterization in the movie than I had expected for this film, as really the film is more about the almost father-son relationship between Statham and Foster. Sutherland is a memorable character as Statham's mentor, while Tony Goldwyn is not as smarmy as I wanted him to be as the head of the company that Statham works for - especially when you consider the many millions each contract hit is worth.

The direction by Simon West is typical for his action and seamier side of life - although putting both styles together is almost too schizophrenic for the film. The people getting shot in the film can also be rather graphic. Considering the amount of mayham and destruction that was carried out amongst the streets, it was unbelievable to me that no police forces were anywhere around to try to handle the situation. The climax is not as satisfying either - as the bad guy just basically runs away, instead of trying to fight Statham and Foster. The tag can also be depressing to see as it was for me, as you have grown to care about the characters.

Rated R for violence, nudity, and sexual situations. Running time: 93 minutes

Pancho
All people smile in the same language.

 Pancho's Movie Reviews