Running Time: 131 minutes Films based on TV shows are always a tricky proposition. Not only requiring a story that works at two, three or four times the usual length of an episode, there needs to be a suitably justified reason (beyond "we want money") to have it make the transition from the small screen. The new high watermark is 21 Jump Street, which serves as both a remake and sequel of the Johnny Depp-starring eighties comedy, although as evidenced by The Equalizer, it's not going to be topped anytime soon. The Denzel Washington actioner serves as an origin-story/reboot of the eighties TV series of the same name, seeing a well meaning do-gooder with a wide-ranging set of skills violently help out people who otherwise couldn't have help. Compared to some films on this list, 131 minutes may not seen like that much of a cinematic crime, but for a film whose plot summary is the entire basic story it's a slog. Despite an iffy back-catalogue, Antoine Fuqua brings a film with some nice visual style and semi-well-thought out characters. But to get to that stuff there's emotional build-up to suffer through that really doesn't make you care any more. What could be cut? It has narrative importance, but actually adds very little to the film given the amount of time put on it, so we'd see the Chloë Grace Moretz as a prostitute thread reduced or totally done-away with.
