I think John Wick and The Equalizer are one of the most interesting duets of action films to come out in quite a while. In some ways, they are extremely similar (in that they are about badasses who retired for their wives, both of whom succumbed to illness, but come out of retirement to slaughter the Russian Mob) but yet they are complete and polar opposites. I enjoyed both films on an equal (no pun intended) level because while they are different kinds of action films, they both perfectly succeed in what they set out to do.
The Equalizer is a film that is heavily is built around character development, which is why I liked the character of McCall better than Wick, both in terms of likeability and skill set.I have seen many people compare the Equalizer to a Seagal film, but in all actuality it is a great superhero origin story. McCall is essentially Superman, Batman, and The Punisher combined. He is pretty much what you would get if Jason Bourne decided to become a vigilante. You could also say he is a vastly more skilled version of Jack Reacher.
While John Wick definitely showcases John's combat skills, it shows that John, despite the fear he inspires, is indeed very much vulnerable in combat, as he struggles and sometimes loses fights, gets captured, and needs saving several times. This is not a flaw though, it is because that is the kind of film John Wick is. It is a film primarily dedicated to lengthy action sequences, similar to The Raid, and thus must have a hero who although badass is vulnerable.
As I said before though, The Equalizer is a superhero film. McCall is shown not only to be invincible in combat, but many other fields as well. While John Wick is dedicated to lengthy action and showcasing Wick's combat skills, The Equalizer is dedicated to showing that McCall is omnicompetent, and can handle any conceivable situation, combat or otherwise, similar to The Bourne Supremacy. He almost feels like a divine being sent from the heavens to deliver justice, essentially a CIA version of Denzel's character Eli. This is also where the film differs from Man On Fire. Creasy, while dangerous, is very vulnerable, whereas McCall can kill entire rooms in seconds.
The contrast between Wick and McCall's combat styles are amazing. Whereas Wick's primary weapon were guns, McCall didn't use a gun once in film (besides to shoot Slavi), only using what he can implement from things around him. It feels as though he is so skilled he doesn't even need one. At one point he disarms an opponent and kills them with a book. Given he was trained to snatch them out of people's hand, I don't doubt McCall's gun prowess, but he just never found them necessary. And again, whereas Wick is shown struggling in H2H, McCall easily stomps all encounters besides the superhumanly durable Russian at the end (Tait Fletcher, who coincidentally went on to play one of the Russians killed in the Red Circle by John Wick), and McCall wins that fight despite having a bullet wound from an assault rifle.
While John Wick definitely had better style, The Equalizer had better substance. Both films were wonderfully directed, and while John Wick had the better pacing and score, Equalizer had the better writing and character development and subsequently more badass action hero.
Like I said, they are two different kinds of action movies and both are superlative at what they are. John Wick is about immediate action delivery whereas The Equalizer is about developing a compelling character arc. Both would make for great franchises and a great double feature and I enjoyed them both immensely.
Seriously, I'm just saying the original tv series with Edward Woodward didn't glorify violence. Each episode hard a moral to the story & violence was always the last resort.
Each episode would be a call for help that Woodward would respond to.
Like a distraught mother worried about her soon being bullied/threatened to steal
or sell drugs. The Equaliser would then warn the bad guys to keep away from the kid & when this didn't work, Woodward would then set up some elaborate plan to bust the bad guys in the act. He would only ever result to violence if the bad guys drew their weapons first....
It may sound like a tacky premise but back then when every other TV series relied on the shoot out to determine that good always prevailed evil, The Equaliser was a refreshing change in actually establishing a moral to the tale.
Denzel's version of ultra violence & revenge would've made a better stand alone feature film instead of claiming to be a remake of something that it isn't.