Seeing and Believing 162: Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer 2 and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder

Both movies this week involve a measure of mayhem, but the two directors’ personal approaches to their stories couldn’t be more different. First up is Antoine Fuqua’s sequel The Equalizer 2, in which Denzel Washington reprises his role as an efficient assassin who just wants to make the world better through violence. Second is Hirokazu Kore-eda’s The Third Murder, at last making its stateside appearance. Kore-eda’s view of his film’s titular murder tends more toward the meditative and ambiguous. Does this departure for the Japanese auteur pay off?

Music interlude by Wayne John Bradley, “Rain.” Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.

Theme music by Alexander Osborn and Lindsey Mysse. Used under Creative Commons license 3.0.