The Equalizer 2
Former Marine and Defense Intelligence Agency spy Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) now lives in a diverse apartment complex in urban Massachusetts. McCall works as a Lyft driver and assists the less fortunate with the help of his friend, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo). McCall anonymously travels to Istanbul by train to retrieve a local bookstore owner’s daughter who was kidnapped by her father. McCall also mercilessly beats a group of men for drugging and raping a woman who he took to the hospital to have her stomach pumped. McCall also helps Sam Rubinstein (Orson Bean), an elderly Holocaust survivor who is looking for a painting of his sister; the two siblings were separated when they were transported to different camps by the Nazis. After discovering that the apartment courtyard has been vandalized, McCall accepts an offer from Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders), a young resident with an artistic but troubled background, to repaint the walls.
One day, Susan and DIA operative Dave York (Pedro Pascal), McCall’s former teammate, are called to investigate an apparent murdersuicide of an agent and his wife in Brussels. When they return to their hotel following the investigation, Susan encounters assailants and is killed. After receiving the news of Susan’s death, McCall immediately investigates both her death and the case she was investigating. McCall determines that the assailants were hired to kill Susan because they knew which floor her room was located on. McCall also determines that the murder-suicide incident Susan was looking into was, in fact, a murder, and that Susan’s death is connected to it. McCall informs York of his findings.
During one of his shifts driving, McCall encounters an assailant who attempts to kill him while posing as a passenger. McCall kills the assailant and retrieves his phone to collect information on who sent him. The following morning, McCall visits York’s home, appearing to need assistance in breaking through a military grade encryption on the assailant’s phone. However, McCall has already broken the encryption. McCall tells York that he knows York ordered a hit on both him and Susan. York admits having done this and divulges that he himself murdered Susan, as the two assailants failed to kill her. York states that Susan would have figured out that he was behind the killing of the agent and his wife in Brussels. York rants about dark choices he and the rest of the teammates made after McCall faked his own death. McCall meets with the three remaining teammates— Resnik, Ari, and Kovac—and threats are exchanged. Resnik and Ari head to Susan’s house to kill her husband Brian. However, McCall intercepts Brian before the team can find him. York and Kovac later infiltrate McCall’s apartment, capture Miles, and deduce where McCall will go next.
As a hurricane moves in, McCall returns to his seaside hometown. The town has been evacuated. Kovac, Ari, and Resnik go after McCall as York situates himself at the town’s watchtower in a sniper’s position. Kovac enters a tackle shop and is killed with a harpoon gun. When Ari heads toward the seaside, he is disturbed by pictures of Susan that he sees along the way; catching him off guard, McCall stabs him. McCall enters his wife’s old bakery to lure in Resnik, who is killed after the grenade he tossed into the building sets off a trap set by McCall. Enraged, York shoots at his car, which has Miles tied up in the trunk. With the storm growing heavier, York is knocked down before being confronted by McCall atop the tower. McCall gets the upper hand, stabs York, and shoves him over the edge, killing him. McCall retrieves Miles from the trunk and takes him to his old house to treat his wounds.
Back in Massachusetts, Susan’s information about Sam’s sister’s painting helps McCall to reunite Sam with his long-lost sister. Miles finishes repainting the apartment complex, returns to school, and focuses on his art. McCall, having moved back into his old house, looks out towards the calm sea.
Classification: 15