Denzel Washington is a covert government operative no more.

As Robert McCall. he’s nursing memories of his late wife, minding his own business working in a DIY superstore and reading his way through a list of 100 novels in his local diner. He’s also helping Ralphie (Johnny Skourtis) to pass his security guard’s exam.

But, after befriending sassy prostitute Teri (Chloe Grace Moretz), McCall takes revenge when she is hospitalised by her Russian pimp Slavi (David Meunier). The Russian Mafia then comes calling, but he proves to be harder to kill than they would have ever imagined.

Directed again by Antoine Fuqua, who helped Washington to win a deserved best actor Oscar for Training Day (2001), The Equalizer is a brutally violent, by-numbers vigilante-style movie reinvented from Edward Woodward's 1980s TV series.

Washington is compellingly efficient enough to mask his 59 years and you’ll never visit B&Q again without wondering if he’s round the next aisle, but the drill sequence alone ought to have been worth an 18 certificate.