Denzel Washington has partnered with Training Day director Anthony Fuqua for The Equalizer, a kinda/sorta reboot of a popular 80s television series with the same name. The franchise may not ring a bell for anyone under the age of 30, but fans of slick action and films made in Boston are bound to fall in love with the feature’s first trailer.

It’s a rainy night in Boston when viewers first lay eyes on McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in New England. He’s doing his best to keep to himself, but a young woman across the diner keeps catching his eye. She’s in trouble. Maybe not in the moment, but her body language might as well be screaming for a savior, and McCall cannot look away. When the girl eventually leaves, the mob arrives, and suddenly McCall realizes what must be done.

Blending the gritty look of Fuqua’s past work with what appears to be an almost exact duplication of Guy Richie’s approach to action in his recent Sherlock Holmes films, what follows from the moment described above is a mix of slick action and dramatic-looking sequences. You can view the trailer below:

Washington rarely wanders into the realm of action without a firm belief in the script he is attempting to tackle, but something in this trailer rings false for me. It may be Moretz, who looks more uncomfortable in her own skin here than she did as the introverted Carrie. Regardless, I’m on the fence.

The official synopsis for The Equalizer reads:

In The Equalizer, Denzel Washington plays McCall, a former black ops commando who has faked his death to live a quiet life in Boston. When he comes out of his self-imposed retirement to rescue a young girl, Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), he finds himself face to face with ultra-violent Russian gangsters. As he serves vengeance against those who brutalize the helpless, McCall’s desire for justice is reawakened. If someone has a problem, the odds are stacked against them, and they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

The Equalizer opens nationwide on September 26.

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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