The Equalizer 2 (2018)

Robert McCall serves an unflinching justice for the exploited and oppressed, but how far will he go when that is someone he loves?

I was going to dismiss this as just another sequel, as the black John Wick look-alike with yet another Transporter intro, but in the end... it really stood out after all, and it brought out the best in me.

I appreciate the silence. No words unless they really matter. Gestures. Bits and glimpses in addition to savage action - because those bits are really the ones that make the biggest difference. And props on making a firefight of a storm! The explosions aren't bad either. Sound work, special effects and props: it's all solid. John Wick-level professional but somewhat... more professional. Less sci-fi. More realism. More like Jack Reacher... but with a black person, and black culture? A darker tone? Is that the only difference? And yet though it comes off as one of the realest action movies of recent days it still has that superhero-style title. I guess you'd call that irony.

I can't say for certain it's worth a five all the way through, but it grows on you if you let it, and at the end I can't give it anything less. At that point the only thing that feels unfitting is the title. Should've been way more personal than that. But then again I guess he is a hero, isn't he? And as silent as he is be brings with him an air of secrecy too. He doesn't wear a mask, but then again maybe you just don't see it.

I'm hoping for a third one of these too, though I fear there's no way it'll match up to this one.

 rated 5/5: friggin awesome