10 Action Movies That Looked Awesome But Sucked

Denzel Washington reteams with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua for this TV show reboot, and it’s quite a while before it sinks in that The Equalizer isn’t taking place in the 1980s.

That’s the decade that a movie about a mysterious vigilante who tangles with Russian mobsters really belongs in, and it’s only some flashy visuals that separate the film from that era. Tired clichés are the order of the day, from slimy foreign gangsters to dirty cops, plus there’s also dialogue of the “f**k you, you mother**ker” variety and Chloe Moretz as a teenage hooker (with a heart of gold, obviously) who has Taxi Driver written all over her.

When she’s hospitalized by thugs, Denzel wipes out those responsible, which leads to a cat-and-mouse game with mobster Teddy (Marton Csokas, also a slimy foreigner in XXX and The Bourne Supremacy). You know the drill: they talk in a restaurant, Denzel gives him the “I’ve done things I’m not proud of” speech, Teddy decides to “send him a message” etc.