There are instances when giving something a second chance is fruitful.  God does that with us.  Actually, it is more accurate to say that He gives us third, fourth, or fifth chances, unending chances, really, because of His desire to be in a relationship with us.  Since we are called to emulate Him, it is usually good practice for us to do the same whenever possible.  The last two words of the previous sentence are key.  For a film reviewer, at least how I work, I may only get one shot to see something before I offer an opinion and move on to something else.  I try to be as charitable as I can while also maintaining fidelity to Catholic ideals.  Luckily, The Equalizer trilogy has brought me the opportunity to reassess something I saw in the theaters and panned at the time, that being The Equalizer 2 (2018).  This was prior to The Legionnaire, and before today I thought I had covered almost every film I had seen from that era.  Yet, my streaming service scrolling reminded me of that previously unliked and unreviewed middle installment, so here you go.

And here we go with The Equalizer 2 as we get an action sequence in the opening scenes.  It is to establish Robert McCall’s (Denzel Washington) prowess as a trained killer.  However, he does not indulge his deadly skills for pleasure.  Instead, he uses them to do what the title might suggest, right wrongs.  In this case, he is rescuing a little girl from an abusive father who has fled with the child to Turkey.  She is reunited with her mother back in Boston, and Robert returns to his daytime job as a Lyft driver.  Of course, he did not attain these attributes by being a chauffeur.  While his former role with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is not specifically defined, he maintains a close relationship with one of the organization’s higher-ups, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo).  We also learn later that he had been a soldier in the United State Marine Corps (USMC).  Following the death of Robert’s wife, another event that we are merely told about, the former assassin for good causes (I guess?) retired from espionage work in order to help others.  Occasionally, he will complete missions for Susan, like his rescue operation, but this time Susan is heading to Brussels, Belgium, without him or her husband, Brian Plummer (Bill Pullman).  Rather, she is going there with Dave York (Pedro Pascal), Robert’s former partner and current DIA agent, in order to investigate the murder of . . . somebody.  Again, the movie does not make it clear who this dead couple is or why they are important to the Americans.  Sadly, while she is there, she is attacked in her hotel room and murdered.  It is Brian who eventually breaks the news to Robert.  Being the guy that he was and is, you know that Robert will find the ones responsible.  His first move is to discuss the matter with Dave, which is a tricky matter considering that the DIA man thought Robert was dead.  From there, Robert gets the information gathered not only about Susan’s death, but the double homicide she had been investigating.  As he goes through the information, he determines that with the Belgian husband and wife it was not a murder-suicide as had been thought.  Further, we see the people who attacked Susan be killed themselves in an explosion.  When this is reported to Robert, it is evident that someone is trying to tie up loose ends.  He becomes one of those loose ends when a passenger who gets a Lyft ride from him turns out to be a hitman.  Taking the phone off the dead man, Robert is able to trace the source of the man’s orders back to Dave.  That is a cold thing to do to a former friend, and Robert responds in kind by going to Dave’s house and confronting the government employee with his family nearby.  In turn, Dave goes to Robert’s apartment with a couple of armed men.  Robert is not home, having prevented an attempt on Brian’s life.  The person inside is Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders), a neighbor kid whom Robert has been mentoring throughout the proceedings.  Miles is there because he and Robert have agreed for the young man to paint the apartment.  Because Robert has cameras all over his abode, he is able to see everything going on inside the rooms.  Robert calls Dave during the home invasion and hints that he can be found where he had once lived with his late wife.  Unfortunately, the hiding job Robert had concocted for Miles comes to naught when the young man prematurely emerges and is captured.  Dave and his henchmen take Miles to the seaside town where they plan to dispatch Robert.  For dramatic purposes, I suppose, they decided to have this take place as a hurricane is ravaging the area.  At any rate, Robert comes out victorious and does a few more good deeds before the film ends.

There are actually a plethora of good deeds Robert performs throughout The Equalizer 2, and they are my excuse for why my synopsis is shorter than usual.  At its base, there are two stories happening at the same time whose only connection to one another is when Miles is kidnapped.  Perhaps this was why I did not enjoy it as much when I saw it in the theater, though I do not remember much of that viewing aside from my distaste.  Thus, the next logical question would be: what changed this time around?  The simple answer is that little is different.  It is not like I watched a different movie.  What struck me this time is Robert’s commitment to “setting the world right,” as he puts it.  This idea is simultaneously abhorrent and laudable.  On the abhorrent side, there is the notion that only God knows what is best for the world.  In other words, Robert has no right to be judge, jury, and executioner.  At the same time, this does not mean that we should sit idly by when we see evil in the world.  What I would add to Robert’s way of dealing with situations are more of his words, that there is always a choice.  He says this to Miles, who claims that the only way he can provide for his mother is by joining a gang.  Robert’s response is correct because God not only gave us free will, but certain gifts to help us make and deal with the consequences of decisions.  Admittedly, this does make Robert to be somewhat of a hypocrite.  While Miles is obviously incorrect in thinking that gangs are his only option, Robert’s default seems to be to punch, shoot, and/or stab his way out of situations.  To be fair, he is typically dealing with villains that mean him or his friends, or both, harm.  To this end, God has imbued him not only with physical abilities, but the innate discernment necessary to know the bad from the good.  I would wish that he exercises a little more restraint in applying his judgements, but at least there is no ambiguity as to the character of these people.

Ultimately, I appreciate a movie where it is clear who are the bad and good guys like in The Equalizer 2.  Had I been more clearheaded back when I first saw it, I might have reviewed this sooner.  It does still have its flaws, but it could be worse.  This, then, is not a full recommendation, but it is also not as bad as it could be.