Denzel delights but story drags
Throughout his 41-year acting career, legend Denzel Washington has never turned his hand to a sequel – until now.
And like so many of his fellow movie vigilantes embarking on their second adventure, this time it’s personal for Washington’s former soldier Robert McCall.
As well as Washington, director Antoine Fuqua and writer Richard Wenk also return for this follow-up that, in similar fashion to its predecessor, suffers from a too-long running time.
The first hour in particular is a bit of a slog as a laboured approach sees plot strands that could easily have been ditched – like Orson Bean’s (Sam) Holocaust survivor’s hunt for a piece of art – and four-minute conversations about painting a wall.
Wenk’s (The Expendables 2) script tries to throw the audience a few curve balls but most will bat them away without blinking an eyelid; you can see one character’s death coming a mile off and another’s evil intentions from space – blindfolded!
It’s just as well, then, that we’ve got Washington to guide us through this uneven terrain as the 63-year-old ensures his first ever follow-up is worth sticking with to the end.
An arresting opening set on-board a Turkish train sees a disguised McCall coldly and calmly warning a kidnapper about his fate before laying waste to some goons using a teapot with Jason Bourne levels of efficiency.
From there we discover that, since the events of the previous flick, McCall has upped sticks to Massachusetts, where he works as an Uber driver.
It’s a job that fits in well with his helping the helpless ideology and seeing McCall handing out some bone-cracking justice on rich young men who have drugged and raped a woman is a real crowd-pleasing moment.
Fuqua does a fine job of framing his lead’s hyper-senses and forensic eye for detail; most of the action is quick-fire, close-up-shot takedowns and there’s no quips or showing off from McCall.
One passionate spiel from McCall – one of the only times he ever raises his voice – is reminiscent of Washington’s Oscar-winning turn in Training Day, which Fuqua also helmed.
Take Washington out of this sequel, though, and you would be left with a pretty generic thriller with, apart from the impressive Ashton Sanders’ Miles, thinly-drawn characters; Bill Pullman (Brian) in particular will never take home an easier paycheck.
Thankfully the urgency picks up during an entertaining, gripping last half-hour that finally sees everyone cooking with gas.
A cool, tense scene in the suburbs kicks the climax off before a literal and figurative storm brews.
If only the previous hour-and-a-half had been as gratifying, Washington’s first sequel could’ve more than equalled its predecessor.