The Equalizer 2: Killed the golden goose?

Star actors are rare. Basically they can and try to ‘act’ in a blockbuster material. What is a blockbuster material? It is where logic takes backseat to create a larger than life image. He/she can pull off miracles, tide away near death crises and most importantly do stupid stuff with élan. Amitabh Bachchan is one such star actor. Give him the same material over and over again, he still finds ways to redeem himself. Like the above scene from ‘Majboor’ my father used to rave about.

Infact, star actors are the ones who make us focus on scenes and continue to talk about them much after we watched the full movie. It is they who increase the shelf life of a movie by allowing us to devour the same movie in bits and pieces. Thanks to them, scene based programs had a good run right from Doordarshan (‘Showtime’) to cable TV explosion (‘Kya Scene Hai on Zee’)…and their popularity stayed intact even with the advent of scene aka clip behemoth—Youtube. Even today most of the star actors’ clips are in much demand and more so, of Mr.Bachchan. In a way, both the mediums and the star actors benefited from each other.

We have such star-actors in Hollywood too like Denzel Washington. Fans flock to watch his films and lap up whatever he does. Many even observe his terrific acting in mundane of situations. And once in a while they like to see him beat the sh*t out of villains.

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‘The Equalizer’ was one such excellent opportunity for Denzel and he did exactly that. On one hand he beat the goons like never before (very well choreographed but violent scenes) and on the other did what he does best, terrific acting like looking into the villain’s eyes on the stairs and telling him he isn’t a pushover. So naturally, when ‘The Equalizer 2’ is out, the expectations are bound to be high, with Denzel reprising a role for the first time ever and also because there were many things you could better in comparison with the first film. And you are bound to be short changed. The disappointment plays out at multiple levels—story, treatment, action scenes and the utilization of Denzel.

One wonders why the urgency to dwell into Robert McCall’s past and pick up themes from there rather than sticking to his legend. The loner vigilante decently built up in the first part is enough to sustain the interest in the sequel (this also reflects in the film’s box office opening numbers) and the writers should have dealt ‘The Equalizer 2’ as a standalone film. The action scenes though start off okay, end up totally out of sync towards the end (with an X-Men Wolverine kind of climax fight set against a hurricane).

But the biggest problem is the star-actor’s effective presentation on the screen. While ‘The Equalizer’ has quite a few scenes that give enough ammunition for the actor Denzel to leave his mark, the sequel dumbs it down and doesn’t really create the ambiance for the actor to shine. Most importantly one misses the confrontation scenes with the main antagonist that is sacrificed in the name of an inane plot twist.

In the end we have a sequel that doesn’t live up the to the original, leaving the audiences/fans unsatisfied.  And it appears in the process the  makers have killed the golden goose. Gold for Denzel fans being he returning in ‘The Equalizer’ avatar again.

Tailpiece:

There is a lot of difference between Bollywood and Hollywood star actors.  An Amitabh could do a Denzel but a Denzel probably coudn’t  an Amitabh. But we might never find out 🙂

Related links:

Wow! That Denzel Subtle Confrontation.

Denzel’s ultimate threat

Amitabh at his angry best

Amitabh in a comedy scene

Amitabh’s mass song

 

Suits- Season 1 & 2

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‘Suits’ is one heck of a TV series and shouldn’t be missed. ‘Suits’ (created by Aaron Korsh) is about how a seasoned lawyer in a top law firm in NYC and a rookie law associate solve tough cases, even though the law associate never went to a law school. What happens to them as the firm undergoes many changes, and how they tackle their individual personal relationships forms the crux of the story.

Brilliant cast and terrific writing are the hall marks of ‘Suits’. The entire key cast are a treat to watch—Harvey (Gabriel Macht), Mike (Patrick J. Adams), Lous (Rick Hoffman), Rachel (Meghan Markle), Donna (Sarah Rafferty) and Jessica (Gina Torres).

What’s very special about the series is how esoteric business concepts and related contests are condensed into a single episode of less than an hour. Some situations dealing with mergers etc stretch into multiple episodes, but even the writers do a very good job of covering enough ground in any given episode, providing the audience a very satisfactory experience. There are enough personal sub plots that form the continuity, with the legal situations being concluded at regular intervals. Internet is full of memes and quotes from the TV series, which serves as an indicator of the show’s popularity.

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Dialogues are worth mentioning…let it be the insert of popular culture in all conversations, specially movie related between Harvey and Mike (from ‘The Godfather’ to ‘The Shawshank Redemption’), or the tit for tat banters between Donna and Louis, or the super charged chats between Jessica and Harvey or the seething stuff involving Daniel Hardman…writers get it so damn right.

Tailpiece: It’s interesting to compare ‘Donald Draper’ from ‘Mad Men’ with ‘Harvey Specter’ from ‘Suits’. Both are immaculately dressed and pretty popular in their circuits. If Donald Draper deals with a lie from his past, Harvey does his best to save Mike from his. Both have an interesting relationship with their bosses. Clients love them, and so do all the women around them. Both have ambivalent feelings towards key people in their offices (Pete Cambell, Louis Litt )

Related Links:

Apples and Oranges: Donald Draper v/s Harvey Specter