While it's true that "God is love" – the author, perfecter and supreme example thereof – something has been lost in a modern Christianity that makes the Almighty into the All Warm and Fuzzy.
It seems almost impossible to reconcile our "nice" view of God with several passages of Scripture, and the imprecatory prayers – those that call upon God to execute his wrath and vengeance – sound like some other religion to modern ears.
How do we make sense, for example, of David's prayer in Psalm 109, which calls for God to ensure his oppressor be killed and "his children be wandering beggars" driven from "their ruined homes"?
But if these passages seems strange to us, it may be only because we're not being honest with ourselves.
Because inherently we know – and perhaps it's the image of God in which we're made that knows – that justice denied is no justice at all, and if God is a just judge of our evil world, then his punishments must be massive and furious in measure. You can't just watch the atrocities of our age, the evil committed upon the innocent, and wish God to turn a blind eye.
Something inside us all knows David was right to call out, "When he is tried, let him be found guilty. … May his children be fatherless and his wife a widow."
This innate understanding is part of what makes actor Denzel Washington's latest film, "The Equalizer," work.
Washington plays the part of Robert McCall, a retired intelligence officer and one-man killing machine who tries to adopt a peaceful life, only to find he can't "turn the other cheek" when it's the weak and defenseless whose cheeks are being bruised.
The film plugs directly into that yearning for justice and couples it with intense, stylish and well-directed action sequences to craft a powerful, gripping film.
The makers of "The Equalizer" smartly also made McCall a flawed man, struck with a bit of OCD and grieving over the loss of his wife.
Even more effectively, the film weaves a significant second thread about finding your niche and doing what you were made to do, "changing your world," and McCall mentors and encourages a surprising assortment of strangers around him to live more fulfilling lives. This other, noble side of McCall enables him to transcend the typical action hero to become a truly likeable and even inspiring character.
The directing, the acting, the characters, the story, the action – it all clicks to make what could have been an outstanding film.
Unfortunately, there were a few elements that prevent me from being able to truly recommend "The Equalizer."
First, the incessant stream of unnecessary profanity in the movie significantly detracts from the script, and in several places, it's clear the writers and actors were just taking shortcuts with the villains, filling them with obscenity instead of actually developing their characters. It's so distracting, it breaks the mood and tension of the film and only highlights how paper-thin some of the antagonists are.
Second, the movie is viciously brutal and graphic in its gore. While I can appreciate the director's decision to actually show the bloody wrath McCall wreaks upon the wicked – a cautionary note that the full measure of justice delivered upon evil does not make for good "entertainment" – "The Equalizer" goes above and beyond to glory and revel in its bloodshed. Designed to be excessive and graphic and stomach-turning, the gore overshadows the liberating, avenging nature of McCall's mission. Thoughtfulness takes a backseat to showiness, and the message, impact and entertainment value of the movie as a whole suffer.
The moral of the story is this: "The Equalizer" reminds us that injustice is real, oppression is suffocating and justice truly served is a fearful thing. The reminder, however, is flawed in its execution, perhaps illustrating the reason Romans 12:19 tells us, "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.'"
Content advisory:
- "The Equalizer," rated R, contains over 100 profanities and obscenities, the vast majority of them beginning with the letter "F".
- The film has some sexual elements, including characters who are prostitutes, a few instances of revealing clothing and several lines of sexual dialogue, but there are no romantic, sexual or nude scenes.
- The film contains dozens of instances of brutal, gory, blood-splashed violence, gun fights and hand-to-hand combat, including extended sequences where McCall uses unorthodox weapons to kill in gruesome ways.
- The film has no significant religious or occult dialogue, though it does have several religious symbols and images, including Russian Orthodox crosses, the Russian "Black Madonna," tattoos of demons, pentagrams and crucifixes and a scene where a man scoffs about someone asking for forgiveness, saying, "Who am I, Jesus Christ?"