Best & Worst of Denzel Washington

Article by Gabe Zia
Okay, so now that I'm a bit more caught up on new movies, it's time to talk about what's next. And next weekend isn't exactly a very busy weekend, with the only exception being Denzel Washingtons latest action thriller, The Equalizer.

Over the past couple of years, Washington has become kind of a staple in terms of action thriller movie stars. And with good reason, he's shown time and time again he can play intense, serious characters. Recently though, his films are a kind of hit or miss. Some of the better films he's done include Man on Fire, Unstoppable, The Book of Eli, or Inside Man. However, my pick for best is the film that came a bit before he became the action star he is now, and that film is Training Day.

Training Day is one of those rare movies that kind of has everything one would want in a good movie. All around good acting, it's well written, well directed, and it paces itself pretty well. And Denzel Washington is absolutely brilliant in this movie, playing a character who perfectly captured a sense of unpredictability. Anytime he's on screen, you get a sense that things could go horribly wrong at any moment. Even if this performance led the academy to (aggravatingly) snub Russell Crowe for A Brilliant Mind, I'm still glad he did it.

However, Like I said before, where there are some good thrillers, there are some bad ones. The worst one of which - or at least the most forgettqable - is The Taking of Pelham 123.

Is this film terrible? No. Is this film forgettable? Absolutely. From its lackluster plot, to its really boring or annoying supporting characters, or John Travolta playing a pretty ridiculous villain, it's overall not a good movie. Is Denzel Washington good in it? Yeah, but he's Denzel Washington. The film could be bad, but he would be good in the movie. This movie is a perfect example, it's a bad movie, that just happens to feature a good performance.