Murray’s Vincent is often odious, and when we finally think he’s softening up, he turns around and becomes even more insufferable. It’s a bravura turn, one which gives this picture an extra kick.

Downey Jr. and Duvall are both excellent actors, and their roles certainly fit them like tailored suits. But playing to their strengths proves to be a weakness, since it results in performances offering little that’s fresh or surprising.

History’s own Vlad III, whose gruesome modus operandi of mounting corpses on stakes earned him the nickname Vlad the Impaler, would probably likewise be startled to learn that he had the ability to leap over tall castles with a single bound.

The surprise is Bill Hader, who’s usually cast in small parts but here ably demonstrates that he can carry a heavy load.

The Equalizer isn’t a film for those seeking moral ambiguity or thought-provoking shades of gray. It’s cinema as catharsis, allowing ordinary people weary of living in a world run by vile criminals and corrupt cops the fantasy of seeing a sentient superman righting all wrongs on their behalf.

It would seem the point of adapting the book again — and in snagging an Oscar-winning actor to fill a leading role — would be to make a classy version this time, right? Yet that’s not what we get with this shockingly bad film, so amateurish that it gives off the impression that Nicolas Cage found himself in a skit by a class of kindergartners.