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Denzel Washington has basically always been better than everyone else in his movies. He’s smarter (Crimson Tide), faster (The Book of Eli), deadlier (Man on Fire), handsomer (all of them), and wittier (Training Day). Even when he’s not getting the best of someone (Inside Man) he’s still getting the better of someone else. It’s therefore no surprise that Denzel has a franchise like The Equalizer to his name. If you’re not familiar, you should be. The original was a real treat—think of it as Taken with Denzel. Or better yet, think of it as The Book of Eli, but he’s not blind.
The original takes a good man with a checkered past (and of course, the obligatory “certain set of skills” trope), and forces him to use those skills for good. Judging by the sequel, they’ve opted to give Denzel’s character a bit more of a backstory and are forcing him to seek revenge rather than justice. It’s not quite the same motivating circumstances, but apparently he was just too mysterious in the first to not give him a backstory. Or the backstory was necessary to provide enough reasons for him to want revenge (his character leads a highly simple, uncomplicated life).
Denzel’s pure cockiness makes him the perfect fit for these roles and I can’t wait to see what creative ways he can find to kill criminals while timing himself on a stopwatch. To quote a pathetic orphan I know: “Please sir, can I have some more?”