History Film / TheEqualizer

* SuperOCD: It's not explicit, but [=McCall=] shows traits of OCD here and there. His apartment is immaculate. He has a very set routine. He arranges things on tables in the exact same way and straightens up things on tables even when it's not appropriate. In a few isolated moments he performs an action repeatedly that is often associated with OCD, such as opening and closing a door and turning on and off a light switch. The most extreme examples are his self-timed beatdowns of the enemy.

* OneHundredPercentAdorationRating: Mafia and corrupt cops notwithstanding, [=McCall=] is fondly regarded by everyone in his life. He easily befriends people including Alina, is liked and respected by his colleagues at work and evidently had an excellent reputation with his former colleagues in the government. He even manages to appeal to Masters.

* TooDumbToLive: Ok, so some unassuming man approaches you and offers a large amount of money for the freedom of one of your prostitutes, then quietly [[ImpliedDeathThreat moves the skulls on your desk in order to point at you and your cronies]] when you mock him and send him away? Well, it could be understandable to dismiss this as the actions of a harmless nutcase...but then he locks the door and turns back at you with a [[DeathGlare look of absolute murder?]] Sure, keep laughing and keep your guard down; not like this might be a clue that something is about to go very, ''very'' wrong or anything...

* UnderestimatingBadassery: Just about ''everyone in the movie'' underestimates [=McCall=], and it costs a lot of them their lives. Nicolai is the first antagonist to size up [=McCall=] and realize there's much more to him than a cursory glance suggests.

* ButForMeItWasTuesday: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. When Robert asks Slavi about Alina getting beaten up, the latter replies that her name doesn't ring a bell. But later in the conversation, he seems to remember who she is, implying that he was just messing with Robert.

* BerserkButton: [=McCall=] tends to let his emotions rise just a little bit whenever cops and law enforcement agents abuse their power. Considering what may have been his former line of work as a secret government agent/assassin, this is totally understandable.

* TheMafiya: The primary villains.

--> '''Masters:''' I was a good cop!! ...I ''was'' a good cop...

-->'''Robert''': That girl, Alana... She's gonna go on living. You... You're gonna bleed out all over this funky floor... All over 9,800 dollars."

---> '''Ralphie:''' [[spoiler:A buck ninety my ass.]]

-->'''Coworker''' What happened to your hand?\\
'''Robert''' [[MetaphoricallyTrue I hit it on something stupid.]]

->''"That girl, Alana... She's gonna go on living. You... You're gonna bleed out all over this funky floor... All over 9,800 dollars."''
-->-- '''Robert [=McCall=]'''

* DoesntLikeGuns: [=McCall=] is absolutely deadly without ever using a gun. In the end, the only gun he uses is an industrial [[NailEm nailgun]]. For [=McCall=], its less about an antipathy towards guns specifically, more that, with his skillset, he does quite well without them and being that he isn't officially sponsored by any government or larger organization, they would only cause more problems than he needs, especially when the bad guys he goes up against already [[CorruptCop have several local authorities in their pockets.]]

* DoesntLikeGuns: [=McCall=] is absolutely deadly without ever using a gun. In the end, the only gun he uses is an industrial [[NailEm nailgun]].

* AssholeVictim: John, one of the Irish mobsters, spends his sole scene being nothing but a complete dick and talks about how he hates Russians and that he is better because he is Irish, [[TooDumbToLive right in front of Teddy]]. To no surprise, Teddy beats him to death.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Detectives Gilly and Harris are always seen together. When not working with Nicolai, the two harass Ralphie's mother at the restaurant, demanding money from her. When Robert finds them, they threaten to kill him in the alley, only to be beaten up and forced to hand back the money.

* BaldOfAwesome: Robert is seen shaving his hair at the beginning of the movie and spends the entirety of it completely bald. He utterly destroys TheMafiya.
* BaldOfEvil[=/=]BeardOfEvil: [[FinalBoss The man that fights Robert in the climax]] is a bald man with a rather thick beard.

* ArtisticLicenseGunSafety: [=McCall=] uses a nail gun like a pistol, but nail guns are specifically designed so that they ''don't'' fire nails through the air like bullets. They have a second trigger by the barrel that needs to be pressed against a surface before firing. These kind of safety lockouts can be bypassed however, which was presumably done before he used it.

* VisualPun: One of the books Robert is reading is ''[[Literature/TheOldManAndTheSea The Old Man and the Sea]]''. One of the scenes at the end of he movie is Robert (an old man) on a beach staring at the wide sea.

* CombatPragmatist: Robert is this and an ImprobableWeaponUser. He'll memorize every object in the room around him, and then brutally murder you with it. He'll stab you with a glass shard, drag your face through broken glass, and stab you with your own knife. Justified in that Robert is just a normal human being and physically no longer in his prime so he never gives his opponents the chance to really prepare themselves or fight back. The one instance where he doesn't have surprise on his side and has to fight face to face, well... see DavidVersusGoliathw.

* CombatPragmatist: Robert is this and an ImprobableWeaponUser. He'll memorize every object in the room around him, and then brutally murder you with it. He'll stab you with a glass shard, drag your face through broken glass, and stab you with your own knife. Justified in that Robert is just a normal human being and physically no longer in his prime so he never gives his opponents the chance to really prepare themselves or fight back. The one instance where he doesn't have surprise on his side and has to fight face to face, well... see RealityEnsues below.

* RealityEnsues: Robert's biggest threat is just [[TheGiant a burly guy]] he can no longer catch by surprise. All things being equal, the biggest guy has a distinct advantage even with Robert's training.

* TranquilFury: McCall never gets visibly angry or loses his temper throughout the film but when he's angry, ''you know'' he's angry.

* MartialPacifist: [=McCall=] always gives his soon-to-be-victims a chance to walk away or correct their mistakes, even if they are scumbag criminals of the highest order. Being a retired assassin and having made a promise to his late wife, he really doesn't want to fight. But, inevitably, his soon-to-be-victims choose poorly, and becomes his victims.

''The Equalizer'' is a 2014 film directed by Creator/AntoineFuqua and starring Creator/DenzelWashington. It is [[TheRemake a remake]] of [[Series/TheEqualizer the 1980s show]] which starred Edward Woodward in the titular role.