A Hit Denzel Washington Sequel Is Taking Off On Streaming
There truly aren't many actors that are more widely regarded than Denzel Washington. Fans flock to his films in droves because he is truly one of the best at what he does.
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There truly aren’t many actors that are more widely regarded than Denzel Washington. Fans flock to his films in droves because he is truly one of the best at what he does. That seems to be the case right now as one of his films is currently #1 in streaming on Hulu. That film is The Equalizer 2. The sequel obviously follows the events from The Equalizer, which premiered in 2014. The sequel initially came out in 2018.
The Equalizer was the first film in which Denzel Washington plays a retired military man, Robert McCall. McCall meets a teenage girl who is being forced into prostitution by a very violent Russian mafia. He cannot stand idly by when the girl is in trouble and nearly dies at the hands of her pimp, Slavi. McCall pays a visit to the man and tries to buy her freedom, but Slavi refuses, and McCall kills him and all his men. This sets the Russian mafia after him. McCall turns full-on vigilante and anti-hero when he begins to kill anyone in his way. After successfully dispatching those involved with hurting this woman, he reveals himself to be The Equalizer, promising to help those who cannot protect themselves.
The Equalizer 2 follows much of the same plot points, only McCall is now fully out of retirement and is very deep in his vigilante ways, this time serving contracts for a government agency. The government then turns on him and McCall must stop the agency that once employed him. Without giving away too much of what happens in the sequel, this is just the basics of what fans can expect. Anyone who is a fan of action and the sort of street justice that follows vigilantes would enjoy both of these films. They contain some brutal deaths, but some fantastic sequences involving choreographed fight scenes. Plus, Denzel Washington. The man can truly do no wrong. It is not a secret at all why this film has become #1 on Hulu streaming.
The Equalizer currently has a pretty low 60% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it has a much higher 76% audience rating, so that goes to show how enjoyable people think the initial film is. Meanwhile, The Equalizer 2 currently holds a 60% audience rating with a 52% critic rating. Those numbers might not sound to be too ideal, but this might just be one of the situations where you should watch the film yourself and formulate your own opinion. Think about the Bourne series, but with Denzel Washington leading all the crazy kills. It is #1 on streaming numbers after all.
The initial film had a budget of $55 million but achieved high success with a worldwide gross of $192 million. Nearly quadrupling its return is likely why the studio and director Fuqua went ahead with the sequel. Plus, signing Denzel Washington again was likely the biggest reason why The Equalizer 2 came about. Surprisingly enough, the sequel also had near-identical box office numbers. The budget was $66 million, but the film grossed $190 million worldwide. All things considered, both movies were highly successful in terms of box office numbers, and fans might be flocking to streaming the film on Hulu and seeing why people had initially seen it in theaters.
Of note, both of these films saw the reunion of Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua, who famously directed Training Day, a movie that earned Washington the academy award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Alonzo.
One of the big reasons people may not be checking out The Equalizer 2 on streaming is that the sequel brought in a more star-studded cast. While relatively unknown at the time, Pedro Pascal joined Denzel Washington as another operative who can essentially take anyone out that they desire. You can’t go wrong with seeing those two in action, literally. There is currently a show on CBS that shares the same name, and it’s now the second reboot. The show stars Queen Latifah, but it is essentially a reboot of the 1980s show and has nothing to do with the films in which Washington starred. For fans wanting to see Washington in action, the film is currently streaming on Hulu. Go watch both movies and see why the sequel has emerged in the top spot right now.
