Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is a mild-mannered employee at a Bunnings-style home-hardware warehouse, but when an acquaintance (Chloë Grace Moretz) is brutalized by her pimp (David Meunier), he turns to brutal execution; in a past life, he was (predictably) some sort of black-ops CIA superman. Teddy (Marton Csokas), the Russian mob's troublehsooter, provides a suitably menacing antagonist for the second and third acts.
While this is an adaptation of an older television series, the timing suggests an attempt to reproduce the success of Taken. Unlike its 80s-90s action forebears, there McCall is never an underdog -- like Taken, this is a curb-stomp revenge fantasy. A thin veneer of relatability is added in the absurd final battle; set in the warehouse, McCall takes out the antagonists with a variety of home tools.
As far as violent power-fantasies go, this one is quite engaging.