Sunday, July 22, 2018

Revenge, drama, action: Denzel returns for an action-packed sequel

In the first movie of the franchise, the movie followed Denzel Washington as the protagonist Robert McCall, who is an ordinary Joe working at the Boston Home Mart. As we follow his life, we discover his past as a retired CIA agent, who gives an allusion to living a normal life but struggles with violence and OCD. A trained killer in the disguise of your local store cashier, a Robin Hood of those who cannot fight for themselves. We saw him fight Russian gangsters to save a young prostitute.
And now he’s back with a bang! In Equalizer 2 by Sony Pictures, directed by Antoine Fuqua, the story follows Denzel Washington across the world to the exotic outskirts of Turkey in pursuit of a young girl who was kidnapped from her mother.
The trailer opens with an aged black man with long beard walk in a train compartment in an action-packed scene, the story only gets compelling and fast-paced from there. Robert McCall has the fire of unflinching revenge burning inside his heart for the oppressed and wronged. His mission is to avenge his friend’s murder and rescue the child. How far will he go for the sake of those he loves?
The Equalizer 2 also starts Pedro Pascal of Narcos fame, Ashton Sanders or Moonlight, Melissa Leo making a comeback as Susan Plummer, and Bill Pullman. Plummer is the friend whose murder Denzel is out to avenge, and don’t worry, that’s not a spoiler if you have already seen the official trailer.
Antoine Fuqua already had plans for shooting a sequel to this worldwide hit, and confirm Melissa Leo in 2017 that she would return for the shooting soon. It is a role she played with much passion and one she loves.
At the Los Angeles press day for the movie, the actor-director duo was enquired about the much-anticipated action sequence at the end of the movie. The climactic battle, as the director says, was not at all fun to shoot. Denzel had to go for multiple retakes for filming each scene. The weather was abysmal, with high winds and water effects making everything wet, and the shooting a nightmare. Nonetheless, if the last movie’s ending was any indication, the audience is in for a treat!
The franchise has a huge fan base, which gives hope to the producer Jason Blumenthal that they might return for another sequel if Equalizer 2 does good business. And we totally agree, it will be absolutely a delight to see Denzel return once again, even if just for the sake of seeing how long he can play that guy. With the impeccable physique the actor has maintained, we believe it will be for the long haul.

The movie is action-packed, so in the depiction of violence, the director naturally cautioned the public. Even though they exercised care as to how more explicit scenes were filmed and edited, after all, the fight is where the money is for the movie. The director confided, there is a powerful moment where Denzel brings up the issue of gun violence, a much-known menace troubling America with multiple deaths due to public mass shootings. A powerful man of action taking a stance against real-life violence is definitely something we want to see.

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