The Equalizer

In many respects, the new film version of The Equalizer has little in common with the short-lived 1980s television crime drama that provided its source material.

One important similarity, however, is that they both feature compelling central characters trapped within a formulaic series of cat-and-mouse storylines.

The big-screen adaptation boasts another reliable performance by Denzel Washington in action-hero mode and some stylish direction by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day), whose visual dazzle ultimately can’t disguise the clichés.

Washington plays Robert McCall, a mild-mannered Boston lumber salesman by day and a vigilante hero to the oppressed by night. As we later find out, he’s actually a former black-ops leader who faked his death in order to settle into retirement.

McCall is a loner who doesn’t talk about his past, so when a vulnerable teenage prostitute (Chloe Grace Moretz) approaches him with a plea for help, he’s reluctant to become involved, and does so only on instinct.

As he exacts revenge against the girl’s Russian pimp, it opens up McCall to a series of confrontations involving mobsters, who rally behind a fixer known as Teddy (Marton Csokas). Yet McCall is resourceful and calculating, and able to suppress his rage beneath a calm exterior that belies his toughness. Plus, his place of employment just happens to have lots of handy tools on the shelves.

The screenplay by Richard Wenk (16 Blocks) is heavy on exposition, gradually revealing details about McCall and his secretive past. But most of it feels derivative, and not just to fans of the TV show (which ran for four seasons and starred British character actor Edward Woodward as McCall).

While McCall feels indestructible, the Russian villains generally come right off the assembly line, many of them with beards and tattoos for good measure.

Amid a seedy and often brutal urban landscape, Fuqua livens up the proceedings with some stylish fights and a handful of taut action sequences staged in dark alleys, rail yards and rundown apartment buildings. Still, it all drags on much longer than necessary. One of McCall’s favorite tools is a stopwatch, something that apparently was lacking in the editing room.

Contrary to contemporary cinematic logic, not everything needs to be remade or repackaged, and The Equalizer is another example.

Rated R, 131 minutes.