THE EQUALIZER Trailer
The movie adaptation of the 1980’s TV show The Equalizer has had a long journey to the big screen, with several different stars and directors involved at various points. Jason Statham and Russell Crowe were rumored stars, while attached directors included Paul Haggis (Crash) and Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive). What we’ve finally ended up with is Antione Fuqua directing Denzel Washington in the lead role – a re-teaming of the duo that brought us Training Day, which gave Denzel an Academy Award.
After the grinder of the development process, The Equalizer appears to resemble the TV show only in name, and the basic idea of a retired government agent battling some baddies. We also get another standard trope with the old guy watching over a wayward young girl, played by Chloë Grace Moretz. As is typical in these situations, protection of this girl turns into a full-scale battle with the criminal underworld – this time the Russian mob.
Check out the trailer below and see what you think:
I don’t think The Equalizer contains the ingredients for Washington to garner any Oscar buzz – but, then again, I didn’t think Training Day did either. While it doesn’t look unique in the slightest, this does look to be the right type of vehicle for this stage in the actor’s career. The brashness that is the signature of many of Washington’s most well-known roles is replaced with a smoldering rage that resembles his disposition in Man on Fire – his best performance of the last decade.
The metaphor seems pretty thin with a discussion of The Old Man and the Sea and Washington’s character working at a home improvement store “fixing things,” but The Equalizer is still one I’m excited to check out.
The Equalizer opens in theaters in the U.S. and the U.K. on September 26. For more international release dates, click here.
Do you think Fuqua and Washington can recapture their previous magic? Can Denzel be as successful as Liam Neeson in the older guy action hero role?
(top image source: The Equalizer – Columbia Pictures)
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