The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman December 11, 2018

There are two kinds of pain in this world. Pain that hurts. Pain that alters.

Antoine Fuqua's The Equalizer 2 sets out to recreate the structural and storytelling successes of the original film, a finely woven character piece about a man gifted in violence who does bad things in an effort to set things right. The sequel offers much of the same but this time without the character depth, storytelling dynamics, and interesting setting that lifted the first to great heights. Washington again inhabits the character with an agreeable demeanor away from violence and a capable and calm confidence in the midst of it and Fuqua again crafts the film with obvious know-how. Still, the story falls flat even as its more personal arc moves Washington's McCall in a way the previous story could not. This sequel is overly long, somewhat unfocused, and generally predictable. Washington's performance saves it from a total loss. It's entertaining enough at its broadest level, but against that vastly superior original this one falls well short of expectations.

Robert McCall (Washington), the gifted ex-government operative who has taken to using his viciously violent and finely honed skills against the evils that exist in the world around him, has moved on from hardware and taken a job as a Lyft driver. In his job, he often sees the best of humanity: an elderly man in search of his sister, a young man off to Iraq, a young woman recently accepted to college. He also sees the worst. He is not afraid to take a detour to save a life and punish wrongdoers; it's in his DNA. But when one of the few friends he has left in the world, Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), is murdered in the line of duty, McCall injects himself into her death and the apparent murder-suicide she was investigating. Soon, McCall finds himself in the midst of a terrible storm of violence that unfortunately and inadvertently also involves Miles Whittaker (Ashton Sanders), a gifted young artist whom McCall has taken under his wing.

The film is not so much a showcase of McCall's skills as it is a continuation of his story, "the next chapter" perhaps being more apropos to the character who loves to read and, in this film, is on the final book of his list of 100 "must-reads." Reading plays a reduced role in this film, as does his "equalizer vision" which enables him to essentially slow down time and assess his situation to find the most efficient means of killing his attackers. It's in this film more as a reminder that he can do it and less as a necessary component in defining the character. Perhaps Fuqua intends that this film not simply regurgitate the first, assuming audiences know Robert McCall already, both what he can do and how he does it, but the result is that the movie loses some of the character detail and depth from the first film. This is a procedural film, not a character film, with a lengthy set-up and an even longer journey towards the end confrontation, which is larger and more dynamic than the end sequence from the first film but also less rewarding because the build-up is much more stale. In isolation, it's the best sequence in the series. Within the film it's a modest reward for a fairly choppy and slow journey to it.

The mid-film reveal is not difficult to see coming and there's little emotional attachment to McCall's fight. Whereas the last film felt more personal for the audience, it feels less so here, more abstract, perhaps because it's more personal for McCall. This movie is ultimately a bit scattered, with a few running plot lines, none of which are particularly interesting. McCall once again has a pet project. In the last film it was an overweight co-worker with aspirations of passing a fitness test in order to get a better job at the store as a security guard. In this film it’s a high school student with a gift for art who strays into trouble with the wrong crowd. As with the first film’s project, the boy in this film winds up in the middle of the violent climax. It’s not that his story does not add to the film, it’s that his story is absolutely unoriginal. Miles’ relationship with McCall lacks the chemistry-laden charm of that in the original. There’s also a plot thread about an elderly man named Sam who is one of McCall’s regular riders in his Lyft job that is resolved in a cutaway scene at film’s end, but the entire story could have been left on the cutting room floor to improve the film’s pace.

The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

The Equalizer 2 was reportedly digitally photographed at a resolution of 2.8K. The upscaled UHD image offers modest improvements to sharpness, clarity, and color compared to the world-class Blu-ray, but it's not a particularly noteworthy image compared to other UHD releases. Essential sharpness and definition are highlights, with those same facial textures so immaculately presented on Blu-ray only finding a little more clarity here. The brick and concrete in the little commons area outside McCall's apartment offers sharper, more tactile definition as well, and the colors both on the graffiti and the unblemished bricks both enjoy greater color depth under the HDR encoding. Likewise, flesh tones are firmer and more robust, black levels are a little deeper and more stable, and noise is handled a slight bit better on the UHD disc as well. There is some distracting shimmering and false coloring on a porch railing seen at the 1:19:04 mark, which is also visible on the Blu-ray. The image is perfectly good, but don't expect it to outclass the Blu-ray. It offers incremental, and not even particularly necessary, improvements. Those watching the Blu-ray won't be missing out on a substantially better view here; the UHD is superior only by degrees.

The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The included Dolby Atmos soundtrack is not significantly different compared to the first-class DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 presentation found on the companion Blu-ray. The added fullness is particularly helpful in the final sequence when a hurricane ravages a small town. The added top layer allows objects more maneuvering freedom, noticeably moving through and above the stage while the incessantly strong blowing winds bear the fruits of the added top end coverage. The sequence is terrific on both discs. The Atmos track does not want for more bass, either. Bass is fully engaging, with prominent felt, not just heard, low end. A fight inside a moving car in chapter ten is one of the best examples (on either disc) for sheer low end and highly detailed response. Environments spring to life with impressive efficiency, and some of the looming thunder is amongst the most prominent use of the overhead channels, which cracks and lingers several times in the lead-up to the finale. Musical envelopment and fidelity are first-rate and dialogue is precise. Listeners cannot go wrong with either track, but give the nod to the Atmos track if only for the added, albeit not significant, immersion during a few critical moments.

The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Equalizer 2 contains a fairly robust supplemental package on the bundled Blu-ray. No extras appear on the UHD disc. A Movies Anywhere digital copy code is included with purchase. The release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Retribution Mode (1080p, DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, 2:19:12): Located under the "Play" menu tab rather than the "Special Features" tab and called "Vengeance Mode" on the last film, this is an in-film making-of/behind-the-scenes/commentary that occasionally cuts into the movie to present viewers with full-screen features, including interviews with Denzel Washington and Antonie Fuqua and clips from the shoot.
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (1080p, 23:18 total runtime): Included are Vegan, I've Got Your Name, I'm a High Level Paid Government Assassin, The Book, Grant Me the Serenity, Let Me Show You Something, I Wanna Get Outta Here, Watching, Come On In, All Clear, and Show Yourself.
• Denzel as McCall: Round Two (1080p, 7:00): This is Washington's first sequel of his career. It looks at the script, Washington's performance and persona, story and character details, and more.
• Seconds Till Death: Action Breakdown (1080p, 5:15): A quick look at the film's "honest, real, and vicious" action scenes and how they were made.
• Through Antoine's Lens: The Cast (1080p, 6:43): A piece dedicated to exploring the story and the characters who appear in it.
• TV Promos (1080p): Washington and Fuqua humorously audition NBA stars for the film in Auditions (3:12). Behind the Scenes (1:29) offers outtakes from Auditions.
• Equalizer Trivia: An in-film pop-up trivia track.
• Previews (1080p): Additional Sony titles.

The Equalizer 2 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Equalizer 2 is a perfectly competent film that simply lacks the rich and layered character dynamics of the original. It's plodding and procedural, the story between McCall and his teenage project lacks interest, and the film's finale is spectacular but not quite enough reward for an otherwise slow-to-build and not particularly engaging storyline. It's but a decent successor to the wonderful original. Sony's UHD is not a significant improvement over an A+ Blu-ray. The 2160p/HDR video and Atmos audio are only degrees better than the Blu-ray's video and audio presentations. Supplements are unchanged between the releases. UHD is definitely the better option, but Blu-ray only viewers are not missing out on a substantial upgrade.