Denzel Washington’s Best Action Movie Is Dominating On Streaming

There truly aren’t many actors that are more widely regarded than Denzel Washington. Fans flock to his films in droves because he is truly one of the best at what he does.

By James Brizuela
| Published 52 seconds ago

There truly aren’t many actors who are more widely regarded than Denzel Washington. Fans flock to his films in droves because he is truly one of the best at what he does. That seems to be the case right now, as two of his films are currently in the top ten most-streamed movies on Amazon. 2014’s The Equalizer and 2018’s The Equalizer 2 are both in the top ten most-watched in the United States. That film is The Equalizer 2.

The Equalizer was the first film in which Denzel Washington plays a retired military man, Robert McCall. McCall meets a teenage girl being forced into prostitution by the violent Russian mafia. When the girl is in trouble and nearly dies at the hands of her pimp, Slavi, he can’t stand idly by. McCall pays a visit to the man and tries to buy her freedom, but when Slavi refuses, McCall kills him and all his men.

As you’d expect, this act sets the Russian mafia after him. McCall turns full-on vigilante and anti-hero when he begins to kill anyone in his way. After successfully dispatching those involved with hurting this woman, he reveals himself to be The Equalizer, promising to help those who cannot protect themselves.

The Sequel

The Equalizer 2 follows much of the same plot points; McCall is now fully out of retirement and very deep into his vigilante ways, this time serving contracts for a government agency. The government then turns on him, and McCall must stop the agency that once employed him.

The Equalizer 2 has a bigger cast. While relatively unknown at the time, Pedro Pascal joined Denzel Washington as another operative.

Both movies contain brutal deaths and fantastic sequences involving choreographed fight scenes. Both films also saw the reunion of Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua, who famously directed Training Day, which earned Washington the Academy Award for his portrayal of Alonzo.

Reaction To The Equalizer Movies

The Equalizer currently has a pretty low 60% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but a much higher 76% audience rating, which goes to show how enjoyable people think the initial film is. Meanwhile, The Equalizer 2 currently holds a 60% audience rating with a 52% critic rating.

Those numbers might not sound ideal, but this is one of the situations where you should watch the film yourself and formulate your own opinion. Think about the Bourne series, but with Denzel Washington leading all the crazy kills.

Big Box Office For The Equalizer

The initial film had a budget of $55 million but achieved high success with a worldwide gross of $192 million. Nearly quadrupling its return is likely why the studio and director Fuqua went ahead with the sequel. The sequel also had near-identical box office numbers. The budget was $66 million, but the film grossed $190 million worldwide.