History Film / TheEqualizer

[[quoteright:324:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/theequalizer_3430.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:324:''"I am offering you a chance to do the right thing. Take it."'']]

''The Equalizer'' is a 2014 film directed by Creator/AntoineFuqua and starring Creator/DenzelWashington. It is [[TheRemake a remake]] of [[Series/TheEqualizer the 1980s show]] which starred Creator/EdwardWoodward in the titular role. Washington plays Robert [=McCall=], a man who seemingly lives an unassuming, clockwork life; widowed, with a steady job as a hardware store clerk, and spends his insomniac nights reading in a diner, where he befriends a young girl named Alina (Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz), who is kind and has aspirations of being a singer, but is currently in the employ of Russian mobsters as a prostitute. When Alina is severely beaten, [=McCall=] tracks down the mobsters responsible and single-handedly kills them. The head of the Russian mob in the region sends his [[TheDragon dragon]], Nicolai, to assess the situation, who learns quickly that [=McCall=] is no ordinary citizen and all evildoers in Robert's vicinity have no idea who they're up against.

A sequel titled ''Film/TheEqualizer2'' was released July 20, 2018.

A second sequel, ''Film/TheEqualizer3'', was released on September 1st, 2023.

* AxCrazy: Behind his FauxAffablyEvil facade Nicolai is ''a complete psychopath.'' See NoHoldsBarredBeatdown for details.

** Lampshaded by Masters when taking Nicolai when meeting with the Irish mob boss. Masters warns Nicolai that whatever else he does to never refer to him as "Little John." [[AxCrazy Being who he is]], Nicolai proceeds to do exactly that before beating the mobster to death.

---> '''Ralphie''': [[spoiler:A buck ninety my ass.]]
** [=McCall=] offers Slavi $9,800 to set Alina free--he refuses and gets killed for it. At the end of the movie, Alina says a mysterious benefactor left "almost $10,000" for her to make a fresh start.

** Averted with Nicolai who is suggested to have been an EnfantTerrible.

* CombatPragmatist: Robert is this and an ImprobableWeaponUser. He'll memorize every object in the room around him, and then brutally murder you with it. He'll stab you with a glass shard, drag your face through broken glass, and stab you with your own knife. Justified in that Robert is just a normal human being and physically no longer in his prime so he never gives his opponents the chance to really prepare themselves or fight back. The one instance where he doesn't have surprise on his side and has to fight face to face, well... see DavidVersusGoliath.

** Two other police officers are running a shakedown operation on the business run by Ralphie's mother...until [=McCall=] intervenes.

* DoesntLikeGuns: [=McCall=] is absolutely deadly without ever using a gun. In the end, the only gun he uses is an industrial [[NailEm nailgun]]. For [=McCall=], its less about an antipathy towards guns specifically, more that, with his [[ImprobableWeaponUser specific skillset]], he does quite well without them and being that he isn't officially sponsored by any government or larger organization, [[CombatPragmatist they would only cause more problems than he needs]], especially when the bad guys he goes up against already [[CorruptCop have several local authorities in their pockets.]]

* ElderEmployee: [=McCall=] at the local Home Mart, where he regularly interacts with coworkers decades younger than him. Although unlike many examples he's clearly doing it by choice out of a desire to live a quiet life.

** Robert appears to be an average cool guy with some enigmatic past and issues during the first act of the movie. He reveals his lethal nature when he effortlessly wipes the floor with Slavi, his goons and their blood.

* EveryoneHasStandards: [=McCall=] is heavily implied to have done highly questionable things during his tenure working in special operations for the United States governments. People who prey on the innocent as well as those abuse their power — especially corrupt cops — disgust him.

** [[spoiler:Pushkin doesn't understand why Robert would come to kill him and tries to bribe him into leaving, to no avail]].
** When [=McCall=] gives Detectives Gilly and Harris a chance to "do the right thing" by returning the extorted money in exchange for not having incriminating evidence of their extortion leaked, they only do it to save their own skins. One of them even declares that "it hurt more than the beating."

* FakeoutEscape: [=McCall=] leaves a bottle of pills for airsickness and a laptop showing a recent booking for an airline ticket in his abandoned apartment to make it look like he's planning to flee the country. Unfortunately Nikolai doesn't fall for it.

** They're not even associated with the Russian mafia, but Detectives Gilly and Harris are just greedy assholes who extort local businesses and set fire to them when they're late on "payments."

* IWantThemAlive: Nicolai wants Robert alive to MakeAnExampleOfThem and for interrogation, as he assumes he's working for another organised crime group. Eventually Robert does so much damage to Pushkin's organisation this requirement goes right out the window and Nicolai is ordering his mooks to shoot Robert on sight.

* LovedByAll: Mafia and corrupt cops notwithstanding, [=McCall=] is fondly regarded by everyone in his life. He easily befriends people including Alina, is liked and respected by his colleagues at work and evidently had an excellent reputation with his former colleagues in the government. He even manages to appeal to Masters.

* ObviouslyEvil: The Mafiya gangsters are covered in tattoos of devils, knives and skulls. The pimp in the first act has skulls on his wardrobe and glass skulls adorning his desk.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Vladimir Pushkin's money as well as his [[ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections political connections]] make him untouchable to law enforcement. [[spoiler:This doesn't matter to [=McCall=]. Pushkin even tries a bribe but to no avail.]]

* SirSwearsALot: Masters is noticeably more foul-mouthed than anyone on the cast, spewing the F-word roughly every sentence especially when [=McCall=] gets involved.

* TranquilFury: [=McCall=] never gets visibly angry or loses his temper throughout the film but when he's angry, ''you know'' he's angry.

-->'''Robert''': Alina, the girl you beat half to death, her life will go on. Yours is gonna end right here, on this funky floor... over $9,800. You should have taken the money.

* GratuitousRussian: Robert is able to speak Russian, and does so when dealing with Slavi and Nicolai.
* GratuitousSpanish: He can also speak Spanish, as seen when he talks to Ralphie's mother at her restaurant.

** Truthfully, that depends on if he ''enjoys'' killing. Robert is the type of guy that is perfectly willing to let you come out of this unharmed if you simply apologize or whatever. And he doesn't go out looking for trouble, it comes to ''him''. In any other scenario he's one of those friendly guys who seems to know everyone, and looking out for your best interest.

* TooDumbToLive:
** Ok, so some unassuming man approaches you and offers a large amount of money for the freedom of one of your prostitutes, then quietly [[ImpliedDeathThreat moves the skulls on your desk in order to point at you and your cronies]] when you mock him and send him away? Well, it could be understandable to dismiss this as the actions of a harmless nutcase...but then he locks the door and turns back at you with a [[DeathGlare look of absolute murder?]] Sure, keep laughing and keep your guard down; not like this might be a clue that something is about to go very, ''very'' wrong or anything...
** A bit more justified in the case of John, the Irish mob boss. That said even if you have two bodyguards with you antagonizing the enforcer of a Russian oligarch was only ever going to end very badly.

** John, the Irish mob boss, writes off Nicolai as a Russian thug he can berate without worrying. [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown He painfully and fatally pays for this.]]

!!This film provides examples of:

* YouHaveFailedMe: Implied to be the reason Remar and Pederson were killed. Nicolai tells them to find Robert or he would find someone who could. A few scenes later, Susan reveals to [=McCall=] that the two were killed by Nicolai.

-->'''Robert''': That girl, Alana... She's gonna go on living. You... You're gonna bleed out all over this funky floor... All over 9,800 dollars.

* SirSwearsALot: Masters is noticeably more foul-mouthed than anyone on the cast, spewing the F-word roughly every sentence.

* TheDividual: Detectives Gilly and Harris are always seen together. When not working with Nicolai, the two harass Ralphie's mother at the restaurant, demanding money from her. When Robert finds them, they threaten to kill him in the alley, only to be beaten up and forced to hand back the money.

* GoodIsNotSoft: Robert tends to offer a LastSecondChance, resorting to violence only after this is refused. This is a common theme in the movie. Robert always offers a way out.

* EvilCannotComprehendGood: Nicolai flat-out states during his meeting with [=McCall=] that he doesn't understand what he can gain from being sentimental, believing it to be a weakness. Also, [[spoiler:Pushkin doesn't understand why Robert would come to kill him and tries to bribe him into leaving, to no avail]].

* ImprobableWeaponUser: [=McCall=] finds innovative uses for a wine corkscrew, a power drill, a roll of barbed wire, and a fishing spear, among other things.

** [[spoiler:And Teddy himself, of course. Since his arrival in the film his every action serves to underline what a sociopathic asshole he is, so no tears are shed on his behalf by the audience when it finally comes back to him.]]

''The Equalizer'' is a 2014 film directed by Creator/AntoineFuqua and starring Creator/DenzelWashington. It is [[TheRemake a remake]] of [[Series/TheEqualizer the 1980s show]] which starred Edward Woodward in the titular role. Washington plays Robert [=McCall=], a man who seemingly lives an unassuming, clockwork life; widowed, with a steady job as a hardware store clerk, and spends his insomniac nights reading in a diner, where he befriends a young girl named Alina (Creator/ChloeGraceMoretz), who is kind and has aspirations of being a singer, but is currently in the employ of Russian mobsters as a prostitute. When Alina is severely beaten, [=McCall=] tracks down the mobsters responsible and single-handedly kills them. The head of the Russian mob in the region sends his [[TheDragon dragon]], Nicolai, to assess the situation, who learns quickly that [=McCall=] is no ordinary citizen and all evildoers in Robert's vicinity have no idea who they're up against.

** [=McCall=] is clearly using [=Craigslist=]] at the end of the film, while setting up his VigilanteMan occupation.

* ObsessivelyOrganized: McCall's apartment is immaculate and he has a very set routine. He arranges things on tables in the exact same way and straightens up things on tables even when it's not appropriate.