YMMV / The Equalizer 2

• Contested Sequel: While the first film clung to a "fresh" Rotten Tomatoes rating at a 60%, the sequel ended up rotten at 50% ^note Though the average rating out of 10 differed by only a tenth of a percent, from 5.7/10 to 5.6/10 with criticisms aimed at the film's bloated runtime, muddled script and overall lack of entertainment. Despite this, some action movie fans have been much kinder, with some fans of the first movie considering this to be an Even Better Sequel.
• Fan Nickname: "Murder Daddy" for York.
• Franchise Original Sin: The film received criticism for its overlong runtime that includes many extra scenes of McCall simply being a do-gooder in his community. While the first film did work its various subplots into the main plot a little better, it was also bogged down by a Slow-Paced Beginning and a lot of extra scenes focusing on McCall's day-to-day life.
• Funny Moments:
  • When York helps his youngest daughter with her geography homework, he points out that she misspelled "New Hampshire" as "New Hamster," but she admits purposely renaming it.
  • This exchange, from when Robert comes to take away Miles from some gangsters.
    Gangster: Who the fuck is this nigga?
    Robert: I'm your father. Your mama just didn't tell you.
• Genius Bonus: As with the first film, Robert's current book reflects somewhat on the film's plot. Marcel Proust's In Search Of Lost Time deals with how experiences in everyday life can trigger involuntary memories of past events or lost loved ones. It also includes a number of Jewish characters and themes. In the film, Robert grapples with memories of his deceased wife and helps an old Holocaust survivor who is plagued by memories of his lost sister.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Over a year before The Mandalorian took Pedro Pascal's fame to new heights, this movie featured him as another fatherly gun-for-hire. Except, unlike the merciful and honorable Mandalorian, Dave York doesn't object to killing his former partners, and tries his hardest to keep his assassinations a secret from even his family.
• Narrowed It Down to the Guy I Recognize: Pedro Pascal was already well-known by the time of the film's release thanks to his television roles, leading many to figure out he was the antagonist almost immediately.
• Padding: The film includes many more sub-plots and supporting characters than the first one did. While the intention was to show McCall's work with others apart from the violence he employs, detractors criticized it for bloating the film's runtime with threads that hardly go anywhere apart from showing how great of a person McCall is.
• Slow-Paced Beginning: The action ramps up more when Susan dies, but McCall spends most of the first part of the movie doing odd jobs for clients and interacting with neighbors, all of which has relatively little effect on the main plot. This was true of the first film as well, so this is apparently the style of the franchise.
• Trapped by Mountain Lions: The subplot about the Holocaust survivor and his lost sister has absolutely no bearing on the plot about Susan's murder.
• The Un-Twist: If you figured out that York is the villain before the big reveal, congratulations, you've seen a movie before.