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Equalizer, The

6/10

Stars: Denzel Washington, Chloe Grace Moretz, Marton Csokas, David Harbour, Bill Pullman, Haley Bennett, Melissa Leo, Johnny Skourtis

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Lovers of mindless action films need look no further for their autumn treat. Ex-FBI agent Robert McCall (Washington), who has left all that behind to work in a convenience store, is tempted back into the action-bigtime when an appealing prostitute (Moretz) that he meets at the diner where he eats is badly beaten by her Russian pimp.

Spurred into the role of avenger, McCall, in another life a deadly assassin, swiftly takes out the pimp and his goons, only to find they are part of a much bigger criminal organisation masterminded from Moscow, which now sends its chief enforcer (Csokas) to put McCall in his place.

You could just about write the rest yourselves, and you don't need me to tell you that, with a little help from his hypermarket friends, the lethal McCall cleans up the city.

Washington is, of course, better than this role, which he can do in his sleep; there's never any doubt that his character will exterminate anyone and anything that stands in his way. Great as a late-night DVD though: can there be any doubt that Equalizer 2 is far behind?

Apart from the name of the title character, incidentally, this has virtually nothing in common with the successful Edward Woodward TV series of the 1980s.

David Quinlan

USA 2014. UK Distributor: Sony (Columbia). Colour by deluxe.
131 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 0, Violence/Horror 2, Drugs 0, Swearing 3.

Review date: 26 Sep 2014