![\"\"](\"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/Denzel-Equalizer-2.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Denzel Washington stars in “The Equalizer 2”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Denzel Washington returns to his role as Robert McCall, former militiaman turned Lyft driver by day and vigilante by night, The Equalizer. \u00a0He teams up with director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day)<\/i> for a third time, the result, a strangely heartwarming, yet flinchingly violent pseudo-parable of reaping and sowing. \u00a0While the film\u2019s trademark is the fast paced fight scenes, they are, in my opinion, often upstaged by the unique way in which McCall expresses his care and concern for the community and the persons therein. \u00a0McCall\u2019s tough love is communicated in awkward, intentional silences, acts of retributive justice, and hilarious told-you-so style phrases delivered right before a serious ass-whooping. These mini lectures are funny because they so closely resemble those of a parent ready to bring forth punishment on a disobedient child. \u00a0At times McCall sounds like a father, other times the old school neighbor from the up the block. Overall, the connecting thread is that he says what he says out of love and a desire for you to make better choices. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the relationships in the film that lends itself to these humorous displays of extended parenting is that between McCall and his teenage neighbor, Miles. \u00a0Miles and McCall\u2019s first interaction is in the common outdoor area of their shared apartment building. Vandals have destroyed neighbor Fatima\u2019s garden and graffitied over the mural her brother painted; McCall is attempting to paint over their tagging and restore the mural. \u00a0Miles voices his confusion as to why McCall would take it upon himself to do such labor when it is the landlord\u2019s responsibility, to which the do-gooder responds with something along the lines of, \u201cEverybody sees it and anybody could do it, but no one will.\u201d This response sounds so simple that it tows the line between common sense and profundity. \u00a0In other words, it sounds like something your father would say. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In another scene, McCall infiltrates a local gang hangout looking for Miles. \u00a0McCall stands pointing the weapons he took from the gang members and ushers Miles outside of the apartment. \u00a0Once they reach the first floor of the building, McCall addresses the conversation he interrupted where the gang members were pressuring Miles to kill his brother\u2019s murderer. McCall hands Miles a gun and demands that he kills him first. \u00a0Miles eventually hands the piece back and McCall grabs him real close and for what feels like five minutes, sarcastically reminds him of how tough he is. This is classic reverse psychology – a method I am convinced has been used by black parents for centuries. \u00a0Its relatability had me cracking up in the theatre, and I am sure I was not the only one. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Miles seems to function as a sort of adopted son, in true black parent fashion, he is not the only recipient of these moments of fathering. \u00a0After severely injuring a group of rich brats who gang raped an intern from their company, only one perpetrator remains. He is still conscious because he was the only one smart enough not to come for McCall; however, he knows his time is coming and he starts sobbing. McCall tells him \u201cDon\u2019t cry now\u201d before shattering his hand. \u00a0If this don\u2019t sound like someone\u2019s mother right before they are about to get them with the belt. To be clear, I am not championing corporal punishment. I presently do not have any children, and I am personally not invested in spanking them. I found his dialogue much more entertaining than the violence; in fact, I had to close my eyes and cover my ears for the majority of the fight scenes as they were simply too much for me. \u00a0When my eyes were open, I was screaming and squeezing my sister\u2019s hand. <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In addition to McCall\u2019s community-oriented nature, I liked the fact that he was an avid reader. \u00a0I especially appreciated the deliberate inclusion of Ta Nehisi Coates\u2019 Between the World and Me<\/i>, which signaled McCall\u2019s investment in his black male identity. \u00a0It made me respect his tough love practices even more. Although, at times, like a parent, his lectures can be quite annoying, and his OCD is taxing and uncomfortable, I would love to have a Mr. McCall as a parent, or even just a neighbor. <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Denzel Washington stars in “The Equalizer 2” Denzel Washington returns to his role as Robert McCall, former militiaman turned Lyft driver by day and vigilante by night, The Equalizer. \u00a0He teams up with director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) for a third time, the result, a strangely heartwarming, yet flinchingly violent pseudo-parable of reaping and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,179],"tags":[295,31,30,197,296,51],"class_list":["post-3119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film-tv","category-reviews","tag-denzel-washington","tag-featured","tag-film","tag-new-release","tag-the-equalizer","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}