Starring: Denzel Washington, Ashton Sanders, Pedro Pascal, Melissa Leo, Bill Pullman
OUR RATING: ★★★☆☆
Story:
Vigilante action sequel directed by Antoine Fuqua. The Equalizer 2 follows Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When McCall learns that one of his longtime friends, Susan (Melissa Leo), has been murdered, he decides to return to his old ways and seek out and find and punish the perpetrators.
Our Favorite Quotes:
'There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts. Pain that alters.' - Robert McCall (The Equalizer 2) Click To Tweet 'It takes talent to make money. But it takes brains to keep it.' - Robert McCall (The Equalizer 2) Click To Tweet 'We all got to pay for our sins.' - Robert McCall (The Equalizer 2) Click To Tweet
Best Quotes
Turkish Passenger: First time to Turkey?
Robert McCall: No, no, no. A long time ago, a different life.
Turkish Passenger: Now you come back.
Robert McCall: Yes, I’m looking for something.
Turkish Passenger: You can find whatever you wish in Turkey.
Robert McCall: How about a man who kidnapped a little girl from her American mother?
Turkish Passenger: We’ll not be looking for such a man. It will be dangerous for you.
Robert McCall: Men like him would think that.
Robert McCall: There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts. Pain that alters.
Robert McCall: [in Turkish] Today, you get to choose.
Robert McCall: How you doing? I’m the driver you called to take home your girlfriend.
Man #1: Not a girlfriend. Just an intern.
Robert McCall: Oh, I’m sorry. The credit card was invalid.
Man #1: [turns to his friend] S**thead. Let you hang with us because your daddy’s a client and you f*** up the first thing.
Man #1: [to McCall and gives McCall his credit card]] Come in. There you go.
Robert McCall: Wow. I heard about these, but I’ve never seen one before.
Man #1: Yeah, well, now you have.
Robert McCall: Yeah.
Man #1: Look, pay yourself whatever, and give yourself a nice tip, huh?
Robert McCall: Thank you. Thank you. You’re not going to ask me if she got home okay?
Man #1: She get home okay?
Robert McCall: No. Took her to Mass General. They’re pumping her stomach as we speak.
Man #1: What’s her name? You don’t know, do you? Okay. This is the point where usually I’d give you a chance to do the right thing, but not tonight. Tonight I’m going to need your cameras, cell phones, anything you might have used to record what you did to her.
Robert McCall: [as the man locks the front door, he sets his timer]You knocked on the wrong door tonight, pops.
[as the man goes to hit McCall, McCall hits back and takes three of the men in 29 seconds]
Robert McCall: Get up. Get up! Don’t start crying now. Give me your phone. Right or left?
Man #2: I don’t know what you mean.
Robert McCall: Handed. You right or left handed?
Man #2: Right.
Robert McCall: Call 911. Tell them the truth about what happened here. Your daddy’s money’s not going to save you this time, understand?
Man #2: Yes, sir.
Robert McCall: You know her name?
Man #2: No.
Robert McCall: Her name is Amy. Give me your left hand. Give me your left hand.
[the man sobs harder and McCall takes his hand]
Robert McCall: I expect a five-star rating. You understand?
Man #2: Yes, sir.
Robert McCall: Not for me, though. For who?
Man #2: For Amy.
Robert McCall: That’s right. For who?
Man #2: For Amy.
Robert McCall: For who?
Man #2: For Amy!
Robert McCall: [breaks the man’s fingers and turns to leave] Make sure I get a five-star rating, junior.
Sam Rubinstein: How am I today? The same, only worse. Every day I know less.
Robert McCall: Welcome to the club.
Susan Plummer: Robert, I’ve been thinking: Maybe you should go back, huh? It’s great, you helping all these random people and everything, but it’s not going to fill that hole in your heart. Go home, huh? Make peace with it. That’s what Vivienne would have wanted.
Robert McCall: Oh, hey.
Susan Plummer: Always a gentleman.
Robert McCall: That’s right.
Susan Plummer: Hey, I’m obligated to tell you these things being I’m the only friend you got.
Miles Whittaker: [referring to McCall cleaning the graffiti on the wall] Hey, you should let somebody else do this?
Robert McCall: Like who?
Miles Whittaker: Anybody.
Robert McCall: You’re right. I guess anybody could do it, Miles.
Miles Whittaker: You know, I got, got a special talent.
Robert McCall: Yes, you do. And it takes talent to make money. But it takes brains to keep it, Miles.
Miles Whittaker: Well, I’m out here making my money.
Robert McCall: Short money, Miles. That’s short money.
Robert McCall: I thought you were retired.
Susan Plummer: Oh, I am. Just like you’re dead.
Miles Whittaker: My grandmother says, if you don’t remember somebody out loud, they die twice.
Robert McCall: Grandmother was wise.
Robert McCall: [answering a call] Yeah. What’s the matter?
Dave York: Mac, Susan’s gone.
Dave York: [to McCall] Susan worked in a dangerous world.
Robert McCall: [referring to Susanne’s death] What did the agency say?
Brian Plummer: They said they’d do everything in their power. They’re working with Interpol. Promised to find whoever it was. But I don’t know what to do now.
Robert McCall: I’ve been through the video of all the surveillance. Something else went on in that room.
Dave York: Who did this?
Robert McCall: [referring to Susan] Do they even know what floor she was on?
Robert McCall: Whoever did this have off the charts skillsets.
Dave York: Here at the agency?
Robert McCall: Family.
Robert McCall: Whoever we’re looking for is one of the high level assassins.
Robert McCall: They’re cleaning up. Nobody’s safe.
Dave York: They’re tying up loose ends.
Robert McCall: Exactly.
Man #3: [over phone] You have no idea what you just started. You shouldn’t have gone to war with us, McCall.
Robert McCall: You got it backwards, you’re going to war with me.
Dave York: He was your partner for seven years, Mac, it’s a mistake to go to war with him. They’re highly trained.
Robert McCall: They’re going to war with me.
Dave York: [to McCall] There’s no coming back from this.
Robert McCall: The mistake they made was they killed my friend.
Robert McCall: They killed my friend. So I’m going to kill each and every one of them. And the only disappointment is that I only get to do it once.
Robert McCall: I punish the guilty. If you’re lucky, I give you the opportunity to do the right thing. This ain’t one of those times.
Neighborhood Resident: I’ve seeing you carrying all these books around, I figured you for some kind of teacher.
Robert McCall: I’m a high level paid former assassin.
Dave York: Susan worked in a dangerous world, Mac. Could have happened anytime by anybody.
Robert McCall: But it wasn’t anybody, it was you.
Dave York: You spare me the righteous bulls**t, alright? You do what you have to do and you move on.
Robert McCall: There’s no moving on from this, Dave. We all go to pay for our sins.
Dave York: What about you? Do you deserve to die for yours?
Robert McCall: Hundred times over.
Dave York: Oh. Alright. Well, guess what. There is no sin. No virtue. It’s just s**t people do. They trained us to kill people and risk our lives doing it. And then one day, you get a call saying they’re done with you. “Thank you for your service. Here’s a plaque.” You need a job? Good luck. You need medical insurance? See the VA. One day, you’re an asset. The next, you’re a f***ing afterthought. It was a natural evolution. It’s who we were. It’s what we did. It’s what you did. Now it’s what we do.
Robert McCall: We?
Dave York: It’s not just me, Mac. It’s all of us. Ari, Resnik, Kovac. All of us.
Robert McCall: Family.
Miles Whittaker: [to McCall] Who are you, Jackie Chan?
Robert McCall: [to Miles] You got a choice. You got talent. You got a chance. Don’t want to hear about your environment, what your mama didn’t give, white man won’t give you no shot. You got a chance. Use it while you’re still alive. You don’t know what death is. You have no idea what death is! Make a decision.
Dave York: [to McCall] You couldn’t save your wife! You couldn’t save Susan! And you’re not going to save this f***ing kid!
Trailer:
Do you ever fill the void of a deceased spouse? Making peace is like marking time. A sink hole whose deeps may never be filled in. Denzel returns to the scene of many memories and the deeps of happiness to exact justice for the loss of his dearest friend. Mission completed.
Denzel is dogged to right the wrongs of those in his outer circle. A woman’s daughter returns home after the father extracts her from her mother’s arms to foreign soil. A valued painting of a missing sister was equalized by their overdue meeting. The scenes are captivating.
A rogue element ties up lose ends to include Denzel’s best and only friend. He measures each one for his brand of justice… mission accomplished. That thin line between for the needs of the country, meets taking off a little from the top for ones self defines the line you never want to cross. So many ways to “settle the score” with the same result.
“Revenge is a meal best served cold.” Sitting to his left is his deceased wife and to his right, his best and only friend. In honor of his best, he kills them all… systematically. He ease drops on others misfortunes to right the wrongs. You always know what your getting… kudos to consistency.