“The Equalizer” is a gritty, violent action-thriller that reunites “Training Day” alums Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua, which follows a quiet man with a mysterious past who is thrust into a private war against Russian crime lords. As per usual, Washington delivers an intense, easy-to-like performance that is both amicable and somehow threatening; and Fuqua delivers a well-crafted action scenes with above average inventiveness set against passable dramatic heft.

While the main plot may be unoriginal, it is executed surprisingly well. The sub-plots and character-specific idiosyncrasies are engaging and add to the overall experience. Thankfully, “The Equalizer” avoids many of the easy-to-hate action-thriller tropes such as a villain asking the protagonist the question, “Who are you?” and the hero responding with the name of the movie, i.e., “I’m the Equalizer.” That line is notably and pleasingly absent.

Luckily, the good and bad parts of “The Equalizer” are not mathematically equal. The film gets right more than it gets wrong and therefore, smaller sins such as terrible henchmen facial hair can be more easily forgiven.

I wouldn’t go so far as to urge readers to run out and catch “The Equalizer” at their earliest opportunity. However, it’s a well-made action flick that, at very worst, is the kind of film that group could confidentially select when “action-thriller” is the theme of movie night, with little fear of disappointment from any individual member.

4 of 6 stars