The Equalizer

In the hit 1980s TV show, British actor Edward Woodward played Robert McCall, the retired agent-turned-good Samaritan who equalised the odds for ordinary citizens bothered by bad guys. In director Antoine Fuqua's slick reboot, it's his Training Day star Denzel Washington who is guardian angel to the meek and menaced. Or is he? Washington initially appears to be just an ordinary blue-collar stiff earning a crust at a DIY centre. However, when he befriends a young hooker (Chloë Grace Moretz) in thrall to a fearsome Russian syndicate, his true nature emerges and a destructive war of attrition explodes. Memories of Washington's mentally mangled avenger in Man on Fire (2004) should be dispelled; his McCall is ultra-resourceful, lethally efficient and pretty much indestructible (like Liam Neeson in the Taken films) as he uses his "particular set of skills" to confound Marton Csokas's baleful baddie. McCall's day job is a plus, too, as barbed wire, power drills and rivet guns become quite handy when pursued by traditionally tooled-up mercenaries. Of course it's ludicrous, but this is The Equalizer, and Washington has the stellar charisma and mobility (unlike the portlier Woodward) to keep total disbelief at bay.