The Equalizer 2

Cert: 15A; Now showing

Heroes walking among us, their superpowers on standby lest bad guys threaten the world — you’re never far from this action blueprint these days.

But capes and gamma rays are not always necessary, as Antoine Fuqua’s moderate 2014 hit The Equalizer reminded us. It took the Taken mould, upped the violence and replaced a lumbering Ulster dad with a bookish hardware store clerk called Robert McCall (Denzel Washington).

Robert now drives an Uber-style taxi in Boston, ever watchful for ways to stick his nose in and help out.

These include breaking necks of nasty sorts, repainting graffitied walls and helping a Holocaust survivor find a painting of his long-lost sister. When a former CIA colleague (Melissa Leo) is killed while investigating an apparent murder-suicide in Brussels, he sets out to find her killers.

Eventually, that is. Fuqua and writer Richard Wenk seem more concerned with showing what a good Samaritan Robert is while delaying the real show in town — grim revenge meted out by a teak-tough badass. OK, he helps old ladies cross the road, we get it — get on with the pummelling! Otherwise, stick to the story of a former operative who wants to make a difference at community level.

The confused, meandering course makes this difficult to get behind, while its idea of a climax is a CGI hurricane. Washington and a decent support cast — Leo, Bill Pullman, Ashton Sanders — struggle to save things.