The Equalizer

  

Recently went to see this in theaters and was quite impressed with the film as a whole.

The basic plot line is that we are following the story of a man who used to be the top man in government espionage. He has managed to carve out a little niche of life for himself, a standard 9-5 job, a nice little apartment. He keeps to himself and makes no waves. He at the start of the film has some severe trouble sleeping so it becomes a regular habit that he spends his late evenings at a local diner. There are some other regulars that over time he becomes friendly with. One of them being a young prostitute and they develop a friendship (which bears no romantic entanglements which I appreciated because too many films present the young girl in over her head only to be rescued by the big man and fall into his arms thankfully when all is said and done, and this is not the case with this film). The more he learns of this young prostitute and her situation the more he wants to help her.

His attempt to help her is a small one and when things go amiss it's not of any real concern, until he discovers just how big the organization really is. Turns out it's not just a bad pimp with an accent, but a branch of a much larger and meaner organization who will stop at nothing for revenge after our hero takes down the pimp.

The plot is believable without being too out there. Often times the plot is too convoluted and too out there to really follow, but not this time. The plot is simple and straightforward. Man meets girl whose hurt and in need of protection. He attempts to help her only to discover that it's a much bigger problem than he originally thought but faces the problem admirably. No massive spins and twists and other confusing plot points. Just simple good story.

The action sequences are entertaining and very well shot while also being bloody and gory without crossing the line into 'just plain disgusting'. I happen to be a big fan of action movies, I think they're good fun and easy to lose yourself in for a couple of hours. And this stands up to the tradition of great action flicks that are just past the line of believable while still being funny and awesome.

Overall this movie gets a major A from me. I think it hit every good point of a action flick while avoiding some of the standard boring pitfalls of plot and managing to finely walk the line between good action and cheesy action.