Movie & TV Series Reviews
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Genre: Thriller, Action
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Actors: Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas
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Directors: Antoine Fuqua
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Rated: R (Restricted)
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Studio: Columbia Pictures
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(2014)
This film has triumphantly marked Denzel Washington's return to the big screen, after a REALLY long period out of the movies. Ok, I'm exaggerating. I know it's only been a year since his last movie, 2 Guns came out, but I heard that movie was meh. Didn't see it myself personally though. And Flight Movie came out the year before, which is STILL A GREAT FILM, btw. I don't know. Since Denzel mostly releases 1 of his movies per year, it just feels like we haven't seen him in a while.
BUT BOY HOWDY, DOES DENZEL BADASS WASHINGTON return TRIUMPHANTLY to the big screen. So, without further ado, let's start off with the plot. In this movie, we have Robert McCall(Denzel Washington from Remember The Titans, Crimson Tide, Training Day, Safe House, Flight,), a retired black ops government operative who lives in Boston, Massachusetts and works at a Home Mart hardware store. McCall has promised his recently deceased wife that he'd leave his old life behind, but is compelled to act after his teenage friend Alina(Chloë Grace Moretz from the Kick Ass movies), a teen prostitute who is beaten up by her pimp SEVERLY. He kills the pimp, but realizes he has angered the entire Russian mafia in control of Boston, so he must go after each member, and stop them all, and the insane hitman that the mafia hires to take Robert down.
Denzel Washington gives one of his BEST, FLAWLESS performances as Robert McCall. His past in the Black Ops really does trouble this man, and he does his best to live a normal, new life, by working in Home Mart. And he does this mostly successfully, and spending his nights in a local bar reading books of his wife's 100 Books To Read list. Washington brings so much of his traditional charisma, emotion, and seriousness(which is VERY heavy in this movie.). Out of all the action movie characters Washington hasp layer, this one is probably the most dangerous one EVER! When Robert gets back into his old Black Ops, kills Slavi, and his gang of henchmen during the first 35 minutes of the movie, he AWESOMELY displays the tactics he knows very well. His combat skills are VERY IMPRESSIVE, and he shows so many cool fighting moves. His personality is very relaxed, and calm. Quiet sometimes too. Especiall when fighting, he looks like he is in extreme inner peace. And when his character becomes more aggressive, Washington brings SO much raw energy, anger, power, and brilliant acting to his role. He essentially becomes more and more dangerous as the hero. And it is all SO COOL!
Now, let's take a look at the other characters here. We have Chloë Grace Moretz as Alina, who does an ok job. I'm sorry to all the Kick Ass fans out there. Her acting is NOT that good. In fact, it's very annoying, and mostly passé. Luckily, she is only in the movie for about 20% of it, so she doesn't show up ALOT for me to be annoyed or be bothered. David Meunier as Slavi, Alina's Russian pimp, is an ok character. He is REALLY mean, and I expect that from a pimp like him. His characteristics are just awkard, and mostly just mean-spiritied and angry .He is basically your typical Russian bad guy for the movie. He ISN'T the main villain for this movie, and gets killed in the very early into the movie. Marton Csokas as Teddy, an ex-Spetnaz, is an AWESOME character!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He IS the main VILLAIN for this movie, and BOY, IS HE AN AWESOME ONE TOO! He is quiet, kills every living thing in sight that pisses him off or doesn't live up to his expectations, has an AWESOME, DEADLY Russian accent, and is acted so well by Csokas. He SHINES in this role!. FLAWLESS ACTING!. Helping him is David Harbour as Frank Masters, a corrupt Boston policeman who has been aiding Teddy. He is an ok character, with HORRIBLE acting. His Boston accent is HORRID to hear each time he speaks. I will say this, I do feel genuinely sorry for the life this character has chose to put himself in. So sad. Again, he doesnt appear THAT much(even though he is a secondary key character,), for me to have an issue with the entire movie. They works for a guy named Vladimir Pushkin (played by Vladimir Kulich.). He hires Teddy to go after Robert McCall, and kill him. He is an ok character, with cliche Russian movie villain acting, and only appears at the end of the movie. He basically is the head of the Russian mafia in control of Boston.
Bill Pullman(President Whitmore from Independence Day,), as Brian Plummer is a well acted character. He is a retired operative, like Robert, but living in Virginia, with his wife, Susan, who is also a retired operative.(played by Melissa Leo.). They are who help him acquire intelligence on Pushkin's activities. Johnny Skourtis as Ralphie, is Robert's best friend, and a security guard trainee working in Home Mart, who Robert helps, by training him to pass his qualification exam. He is a pretty good character, his friendship with Robert is very funny and interesting to watch them bond together.
The music by Harry Gregson-Williams is GREAT! he does an excellent job by providing a chilling soundtrack to a VERY suspenseful movie. But, the best part of this movie's music: the actual SOUNDTRACK by different artists. 4 in particular(in this order too.).:
-"Vengeance" - by Zack Hemsey (played during the best part of the movie: the 45 minute battle in Home Mart, where the Russian mafia goes up against Robert, with most of the lights off. >:D DEFINITELY the BEST song used in this movie! It raised my suspense factor of what was gonna happen next.
-"The Equalizer" - by Harry Gregson-Williams. (This is the main theme that plays for Robert during the final few mins of the 45 minute battle in Home Mart.). It is SUCH AN AWESOME CHARACTER THEME, and really ups the cool factor EVEN more for this movie!
-"New Dawn Fades" - by Joy Division. This is played during the end of the movie, when all the trouble is over. This is a nice, calm, ending rock song for this movie.
-"Guts Over Fear (Clean)" - by Eminem feat. Sia. This was the most highly advertised song for this movie. It played in all the commercials and trailers. In the movie, it is played during the credits. And, I LOVE this song. It is so fitting for this movie, and Eminem does an excellent job. I hate Sia, but I'll give her an exception for this song. She does good john on vocals.
The directing by Antoine Fuqua (The Replacement Killers, Bait, Training Day, Tears of the Sun, King Arthur, Shooter, Brooklyn's Finest, Olympus Has Fallen,), is FLAWLESS! Everytime him and Denzel make a movie together(Training Day,), they always succeed. The story is SO COMPELLING! The drama gets you SO INVESTED! The character development and study of Robert McCall in this movie is SO INTERESTING! And, of course, the action IS THE BEST PART OF THE MOVIE! SIMPLY FLAWLESS! SO PULSE POUNDING, and REALLY GETS YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT FOR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT! In fact, the 45 minute battle inside Home Mart, in the dark, between Robert and Teddy (Russian mafie of Boston also included,), is one of the most BRILLIANTLY CHOREOGRAPHED ACTION SCENES I HAVE EVER SEEN! In fact, it was shot EXACTLY the way I would have shot it in MY mind. And the song that plays during this scene, (,"Vengeance" by Zack Hemsey, REALLY helps set the mood for this SUPER suspenseful, and intense battle.). So beautiful. DEFINITELY GO SEE THIS MOVIE WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE! THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE MUST SEE! I went in to this movie with high expectations anyway, but left with even GREATER APPRECIATION! IGNORE WHAT E V E R Y B O D Y says about this movie! THIS MOVIE WAS NOT ONLY THE BEST ACTION MOVIE I HAVE SEEN THIS YEAR SO Far, but, it is also ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF 2014 BY FAR! NO CONTEST! And, for that, I'm giving this movie a SOLID 10 out of 10.
RATING
10 / 10
