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It's a fundamentally stupid movie, but entertaining enough. And short enough that you may get through it without thinking about the absurdity of it all. It's competently made and the acting is fine as you would expect given the cast, but it really lacks in any depth or anything that would make you think. Even in the sub-genre of vigilante action it stands out as rather childish primarily because the hero is omnipotent and ultimately without any real personal motivation (helping a stranger recoup lost savings as some sort of general favor is the kind of plot that sounds straight up lifted from a 1980s A-Team or Knight Rider episode but of course there's a reason those were 40 minute TV episodes not feature films).
But the biggest weakness is that it's like a reverse Michael Myers with the victims not teenagers but criminals. It doesn't really work on an emotional level because a hero's tale requires adversity. Laurie Strode is the one facing overwhelming odds in a completely terrifying struggle against a near unstoppable force determined to butcher her. In this case we're supposed to be rooting for the near unstoppable force that easily butchers (and that's the correct word) countless enemies while barely breaking a sweat.
We don't feel sympathy for the victims of McCall as they're pond scum criminals, but the movie also doesn't really expend a lot of effort to make you truly hate them. The villains remain bland and replaceable and the people McCall helps are also just background scenery or plot devices. Dakota Fanning's character brings little to the table as her involvement is a barely developed side plot which seems to primarily serve the purpose of adding 15-20 minutes to the TV show episode plot.
One of the fundamental issues of the Equalizer franchise though which make it inferior to other such movies is that even the titular main character himself is barely developed and it speaks volumes that the movie treats any expression of emotion on his part as absolute highlight moments. The parallel to Halloween works here, too. In the end credits of Halloween Michael Myers is referred to as "the shape" because he is ultimately kind of a void and not a person. Robert McCall also remains somewhat of a 'void'. Even the usual Hollywood technique of spicing up heroes in such movies with clever one liners and self-awareness is used quite sparingly here. Denzel brings some charisma to the role, but the script isn't doing much with it as McCall remains ultimately somewhat of a joyless killing machine.
The movie is about as emotionally satisfying as completing an action video game with familiar game mechanics on "Novice" difficulty i.e. if you like the genre and appreciate what the genre brings (in this case ultra-violence) then you'll be entertained, but it will still be quickly forgotten.
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