The Equalizer 2 shadows the mysterious and elusive former black ops operative Robert McCall as he goes above and beyond to serve justice on behalf of the powerless and oppressed. When those closest to McCall are put in harms way and matters get personal, McCall sets off on a warpath to find the individuals responsible and make them pay.
Chronicling the second chapter of McCall's story, director Antoine Fuqua and screenwriter Richard Wenk each reprise their respective duties from The Equalizer. Over the span of Washington's forty-one year acting career, he's yet to play the same part twice... Till now. Believe it or not, but The Equalizer 2 is actually the first sequel for both Fuqua and celebrated actor Denzel Washington in addition to being their fourth collaboration together. Once you've taken that information in consideration, it's easy to imagine that Fuqua and Washington are very selective about their projects. They are both respected names in Hollywood after all... Therefore, it would seem reasonable that they each saw potential in Wenk's script that compelled them to return. Because why else would you go down the sequel route?...
Well, after seeing The Equalizer 2, I think their reasoning was much simpler... A nice paycheck seems to have been the primary incentive for this series continuation which is jam-packed with problems. First and foremost, the sequel centers around an unfocused narrative that's bogged down by a plethora of plot lines, lots of location hopping, an abundance of action clichés, and the blandest baddies I've seen in awhile. The plot also unravels at a plodding, methodical pace so large stretches of the film are unbelievable boring. There are certainly spurts of action here and there, but none of the activity is interesting enough to leave much of an impression. The action is not particularly well-shot or edited either, which made the fight choreography difficult to follow and left me with a headache as opposed to a grin.
There's also a persisting question as to why the characters behave the way they do. The climactic action set-piece takes place during a full blown hurricane as the beachfront town's been evacuated, and I wondered who in their right mind would willingly follow someone into such a storm. Of course, the antagonists do so with the typical "tying up loose ends" motivation, but I didn't quite buy that as a compelling enough reason... Additionally, the storm made for such a drab background that it was very tiring to watch, and the occasional poor green-screen work didn't help matters.
Furthermore, Robert McCall is a Lyft driver this time around. This functions as a plot device for McCall to interact with members of the surrounding community and as the shameless product placement you're suspecting it to be. There's even a bit about a five star rating that simultaneously warrants a chuckle and an eye-roll, in that exact order. It just felt odd to watch this second installment bend over backwards to prominently showcase the Lyft logo when it previously employed McCall at a knock-off Home Depot. The first film avoided the idea of intentional product placement altogether, but the sequel succumbs to shamelessly promoting actual companies far too quickly and far too easily.
An element that The Equalizer 2 does carry over from its predecessor is McCall being a proactive member of his community. Of course, it would be tremendously difficult to abandon this idea since it's the very essence of the character, but stranger things have happened. Anyways, this becomes somewhat problematic whenever these threads interfere with the overarching plot. There are certainly some occasional heartwarming beats, but these are few and far between in this bloated sequel. They often feel like unnecessary detours and don't quite work in execution. The first film did a much better job integrating McCall's mentorship into the ongoing story because it tied into everything else.
In the supporting ranks, recognizable actors such as Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, and Bill Pullman are totally wasted. Pascal has very little screentime or personality, which cripples his character almost entirely. If you've seen the trailers, you might know what happens to Leo, and then Pullman's completely forgotten about at the end.
In an effort to achieve true balance within the franchise, The Equalizer 2 is as equally mundane as the first film was entertaining. In other words, you can expect this action-thriller to be a tedious use of two hours.
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