Here we look at the new tv series The Equalizer 2021 reviews. The original starred Edward Woodward and Denzel Washington played the character in two recent films. However, this one stars Queen Latifah.
The Equalizer creators
The original premiered in 1985 also on CBS. That was created by Richard Lindheim and our Los Angeles editor’s brother, Michael Sloan. The new programme carries a dedication to the Richard Lindheim, who sadly died in January. Michael’s nod, by the new writers, seems to come as Queen Latifah poses as a lawyer. Here she refers to herself as ‘Chris Sloan’!
The Equalizer review, our thoughts
I found the episode enjoyable and well made. However, I felt It seemed too rely too heavily on computer hacking, which obviously the original would not have done. It had some gripping fights and chases. However, it’s forty-five minute duration left you were feeling it’s was all to slick.
As you will see from the other reviews here, we all seem to think it maybe lost too much of the originality of the original series. Mind you, this was only the pilot episode. Hopefully we can gain that back as the series progresses?
New York Times’s The Equalizer 2021 review
By Mike Hale
Queen Latifah is playing the title role in a new iteration of The Equalizer. Hearing that inspires equal measures of expectation and dread.
The gender reversal of the action-figure protagonist doesn’t figure very prominently in the pilot, though McCall is now a single mother to a rebellious teenager.
However, when the script gives her the chance… she nails a line or a reaction in a way that makes you see McCall as a real human being. Time will tell whether she can step all the way off the CBS assembly line.
From our reading, 3 stars
USA Today’s The Equalizer 2021 review
By Kellyn Lawler
With fewer series amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and many of them incorporating its far-reaching effects into their storylines, there’s something quaintly satisfying about this by-the-numbers drama.
[What we get is] the action is smooth and exciting if a bit over-reliant on quick cuts and a moving camera.
Equalizer isn’t going to break any records or win many awards. [However] it’s simple, it has good fight sequences and it’s always nice to see a beloved star get a role like this.
From our reading, 3 stars
Hollywood Reporter’s The Equalizer 2021 review
By Daniel Fienberg
Andrew W Marlowe and Terri Edda Miller’s pilot script feels like it could have been a spec script for… any of a dozen comparable shows.
Our hero is now Robyn McCall — Washington and Edward Woodward were “Robert”. [She is] recently retired from some stealthy corner of the CIA after something went bad in Venezuela, or whatever. Her daughter Delilah (Laya DeLeon Hayes) — cut and paste “generic troubled, but well-intentioned teen” from your procedural script — thinks Robyn is newly retired from some job as a bigwig at a charitable organization.
The Equalizer feels designed to fit in with the CBS lineup… There’s a comfortable mediocrity to the formula that should land with many viewers. Critics, on the other hand, are more likely to lament that with this cast, so much more might be possible.
From our reading, 2 stars
Variety’s The Equalizer 2021 review
By Caroline Framke
[The new series is] borne out of the cult ‘80s CBS show starring Edward Woodward and 2014 blockbuster starring Denzel Washington. This 2021 iteration of The Equalizer mashes the two versions together to create a basic show that leans on its star to keep things interesting.
By the end of the first episode, it’s clear that the show is less of a brand new take on The Equalizer than it is a straight up take on a CBS procedural about a rogue agent with a heart of gold.
A scene late in the pilot, in which Robyn gently but firmly tells her daughter that society’s odds don’t favor Black girls, underlines the show’s true motivating premise.
From our reading, 2.5 stars
CNN’s The Equalizer 2021 review
By Brian Lowry
CBS was happy enough with the concept, ordered as a series without the usual pilot process. [Also] to give it a coveted introduction after the Super Bowl.
Like the CW’s recent revival of another old CBS title, Walker, Texas Ranger, the show emphasizes family a life apart from crimefighting in a way the original didn’t. [It’s] a more character-driven sign of the times. Transparently seeking to humanize its inherently-likable star beyond just serving as a robotic dispenser of justice.
“Who do you go to if you can’t go to the cops?” the premiere’s damsel in distress asks, encapsulating the underlying premise in a single sentence.
From our reading, 3 stars
Overall The Equalizer 2021 Reviewer’s rating
Average = 2.7 Stars
Overall there seems to be some concensous. The general thought is, ‘Could be more than standard fare for TV’. Let’s hope it gets better!
