This sequelizer to The Equalizer stars Denzel Washington as the eponymous neutralizer of vandalizers, terrorizers and burglarizers. It’s the perfect film if you want to catch some Zs. 

‘Lizer with a Z.

Since the first film, our reluctant hero has become a trigger-happy vigilante who appears to travel the world killing bad guys. He’s also a Lyft driver, which seems like a poor choice of job for someone trying to stay off-grid. The only job less appropriate would be if he was a news anchor or the Numa Numa guy.

Antoine Fuqua and Richard Wenk are back on directing and writing duties respectively, only this time they don’t give a Fuqua about style and the script is a load of Wenk. They swap the previous picture’s stylish, straightforward execution for a convoluted conspiracy plot that’s as unpleasant and hole-ridden as one of Sarah Huckabee Sanders’ bedtime stories.

There was no complex backstory first time out; the fun was in seeing a mild-mannered Denzel Washington equalizing a bunch of thugs using no fewer than 23 improvised weapons. Here it’s pretty much just guns, and a load of superfluous subplots that make the movie as messy narratively as it is visually.

Failing to equal its prequel or spark enthusiasm for The Threequalizer, The Equalizer 2 feels more like a Liam Neesonizer. Overcomplicated yet underdeveloped, this unequalled mess of a movie is one ‘Lizer too many.