One-Man Armies

The next pair of movies I watched on my batchelor weekend were assassin movies, both sequels for no special reasons.

I've been aware of Hitman: Agent 47 (2015) for a while, as well as being aware of the widespread opinion that it isn't very good. It stars Rupert Friend as the eponymous hitman. He's an Agent - a gene modified superkiller with heightened strength and reflexes, and diminished conscience and introspection. He s supposed to track down Hannah Ware, daughter of the scientist who developed the agents. He has gone underground, and this is a plot to get him back. 

It turns out that Zachary Quinto is a more advanced agent, with subcutaneous armor, making him bulletproof. Friend goes over to Ware's side against Quinto. Fortunately, it turns out that Ware is the most advanced Agent of all.

I actually quite liked this - mostly for image of Friend in a sharp suit, skinhead haircut, jug ears and no expression. The action is sort of John Wick adjacent (not as good, but what is?), and fun. I never played the video game this is based on, and I guess that's good. I also had no idea that there was an earlier Hitman (2007) movie, which is also supposed to be bad. But I'll watch it if I come across it. 

I picked The Equalizer 2 (2018) because I've given up looking for part one. Is it really bad? I guess it's on Paramount+, so next time we want to stream Star Trek, I'll check it out. Anyway, Denzel Washington is the Equalizer, a Boston Lyft driver who sometimes helps the people he drives for. When some douchebags load an obviously drugged woman into his car, he takes her to the hospital, then comes back and beats the douchebags up. He also gives a black teen a job cleaning and repainting the wall outside his apartment.

But the real plot is about Pedro Pascal, who was in DIA with Washington, but is now running a kill-for-hire company. Thwarting them involves a little globe-trotting and braving a hurricane on the North Shore. 

I liked the action, and of course Denzel is always a treat. The Boston locations were fun too, for an old Masshole. I wasn't that thrilled by the various subplots, although some of them did pay off. 

I guess this was originally a TV show, which I didn't see, and later another TV show (starring Queen Latifah!), which same. The latest entry is The Equalizer 3, which features Washngton coming out of retirement for one last job. I'm looking forward to that.