‘The Equalizer 3’- Film Review: The Best in the Denzel Washington-led Trilogy?

Did no one imagine an actor like Denzel Washington to be the face of an action-thriller franchise? But we are. Based on the 1980s television series from Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim that has a rebooted show currently airing (does anybody watch it?), The Equalizer franchise knows how to please fans of the two-time Oscar-winning actor and brutal action together from director Antoine Fuqua. The original from 2014 didn’t blow me away, but witnessing an actor like Washington put terrible characters in their place was amusing. However, like several action sequels, The Equalizer 2 from 2018 wasn’t much of an upgrade. That may be why The Equalizer 3, the third and presumably final installment, didn’t raise enough excitement before the opening week of September. If you know what you’re getting into an Equalizer movie, the enjoyment is all yours and even more. But while it’s better than the last, it’s still not as interesting as it wanted.

What’s the Story: After taking out henchmen from a Sicilian mob in a vineyard in Sicily, retired U.S. marine and DIA operative Robert McCall (Washington) gets badly wounded by taking a bullet in the back during a secret mission, leading him to be treated by small-town doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone) to bring him back to health after a local police officer named Gio (Eugenio Mastrandra) found him passed out in his car. As Robert slowly recovers in Enzo’s home of Altamonte, he becomes pretty comfortable with his time there, especially when getting acquainted with the people, including cafe server Aminah (Gaia Scodellaro). But the peace Robert needs gets interrupted when the town’s local mafia, the Camorra, takes control of everything with their business, leaving only Robert to stop the terror the community has faced before he arrived.

Even when the series isn’t aiming to be the finest in the action genre, simply seeing Washington as Robert McCall is always entertaining. For an actor pushing 70, he settles on a charismatic demeanor, though we’re fully aware he can kill anyone in seconds with his Equalizing mind. Out of the three, he’s at his most violent than any iconic horror movie villain and The Punisher combined. You want this man to enjoy his retirement in a different country after his life-threatening experience, but as we know by now, it comes at a cost when citizens fear those who cause trouble. That’s the thing about Washington when he works with Fuqua; he’s fully committed to a role when the movies themselves are less than stellar, and as this character, he’s still believable. This proves we can watch him in any action movie than what Liam Neeson has been putting out to no attention.

We even get a much-anticipated Man on Fire reunion with him and Dakota Fanning, as the latter plays Emma Collins, a rookie CIA agent whom Robert helps after tipping her on a drug operation. Their chemistry works nearly two decades later, even when there’s not much to go off of Fanning’s character until later. By the way, we haven’t seen Fanning in many films nowadays, and I really hope there’s an admirable role for her since I was a fan when she was growing up. Hopefully, they won’t waste her performance like here.

From an action standpoint, they’re fine. But none of the action sticks out because the stakes are so low for McCall after the solid opening, with practically every set piece hardly being contested adequately. And it pales compared to what we saw in John Wick Chapter 4 or Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One earlier this year. Nothing goes as hard as the climactic hardware store sequence. Fuqua knows how to go for the brutal R-rating, as expected, in how it goes for the brutal kills, from death by guns through the eye to even a fire poker.

Much like the first two, Fuqua and returning screenwriter Richard Wenk let the audiences know The Equalizer 3 isn’t to be taken seriously, which is why it takes all the chances to have a pretty formulaic story that doesn’t always change things up, making this sequel not as fun as the first. Now, I know nobody comes to these movies for the plot. It’s just that everything else leans heavily towards the forgettable side, especially when the first 30 minutes bore me with its pacing. However, it picks itself up a little more when you realize it’s almost like it represents a Western like The Magnificent Seven, except there’s only one man’s challenge to take the bad guys down.

You can tell they wanted this to explore McCall finally arriving at the perfect time for his peace or delve into his good and bad side, painting a poignant portrait of finding redemption in this character. And I never saw it moving if they wanted to attempt that. As for the villains, Marco (Andrea Dodero) and his brother Vincent (Andrea Scarduzio) are presented as terrifying badasses. The problem is they weren’t that believable, and they’re just there so McCall can creatively kill them. And that’s what the supporting characters feel when it doesn’t feel that important whenever they’re in a scene, and Washington isn’t.

Overall, even though this third installment lacks an exciting narrative this time, The Equalizer 3 continues the franchise’s strength in showcasing Denzel Washington’s performance as an action hero, bringing the series to conclude with a mixed bag. It will get thrills for the fans who have been there since the first, although it has been hit-or-miss for me throughout these three films.