When it comes to Hollywood math, having just one sequel doesn’t quite square the equation. So, nine years after vigilante actioner The Equalizer, we have a trilogy capper in the form of The Equalizer 3.
Only somewhat less unnecessary than the 2018 follow-up that preceded it, this final chapter is the shortest of the three films, even though it doesn’t always feel like it due to the uneven pacing from returning director Antoine Fuqua. Though this does have some of the brutal violence that’s come to define the series, The Equalizer 3 is also the least action-heavy, but at least it’s in favor of a more contemplative character study about a hitman coming to terms with his life of murder.
The movie luxuriates in its coastal Italian setting with gorgeous cinematography from Robert Richardson and tries to capture the nuances of Italian culture when it’s not indulging in farcical stereotypes.
We open in Sicily, where one-man wrecking machine Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) is waiting for a mafia boss at his winery with a dozen of his bodyguards dead throughout the compound. McCall finishes his business there after the kingpin arrives but sustains a bullet wound, leaving him scrambling near the Amalfi Coast. He’s taken in by a friendly doctor, Enzo (Remo Girone), in quaint home town, where McCall takes time to recover and, in the process, finds a soft spot for the kind people who have welcomed him. Despite the peaceful locale, trouble brews under the surface as mob enforcer Marco (Andrea Dodero) shakes down local restaurant owners for money and crosses McCall in the midst of his misdeeds.
When McCall inevitably dispatches Marco and his accompanying thugs, the aftermath triggers involvement from a young CIA agent played by Dakota Fanning, who travels to Italy to sniff McCall out. Washington and Fanning previously worked together for Tony Scott’s Man on Fire when Fanning was just 9 years old, and aside from the novelty of the reunion, the two have a fun cat-and-mouse energy that gives The Equalizer 3 a boost from time to time. Unfortunately, her character’s presence also comes with strings attached in the form of a superfluous subplot steeped in the Syrian drug trade that makes the story more complicated than it needs to be. There’s a stretch in the middle of the film where Washington disappears from the movie entirely, and alternating scenes of interrogation and tough guy intimidation temporarily render the narrative indecipherable.
Naturally, this movie needs Washington, and apart from the scant scenes of savage score-settling, The Equalizer 3 finds a bit of a groove in McCall reckoning with the violent life he’s led. The first two films find his character trying to pass the time and distract himself by working at a hardware store or as a Lyft driver, but this entry feels like a proper “retirement” installment.
Though action movies from this year like Fast X and Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One had detours in Italy, this movie actually finds purpose in the location and goes a bit deeper than the picturesque scenery. McCall strikes up a kinship with a waitress played by Gaia Scodellaro, who serves as his guide around the village. He feels as though he could live the rest of his life there, and Fuqua adds some elegant touches that make us believe it.
Conversely, the antagonistic forces couldn’t be implemented much more inelegantly. Marco is really the only villain with even a trace of a personality to him, and when he’s offed, it’s up to his big brother and his attaché of goons to pick up the slack. This series isn’t known for its richly rendered baddies, but at least Fuqua and recurring scribe Richard Wenk had the good sense to give the over-the-top villain of the inaugural entry a fittingly ridiculous name of Teddy Rensen. None of the faceless thugs here come close to the menace that Marton Csokas creates in his performance as Rensen in The Equalizer or that Pedro Pascal does for The Equalizer 2, which is problematic for a concluding chapter. If you’re not going to have a strong villain, at the very least don’t have a scene of henchmen chewing on pasta and gulping wine as they stand around a table trying to figure out how to deal with the protagonist like they do here.
Fans of Washington can at least celebrate the fact that The Equalizer 3 means the equation is complete and the venerable actor can lend his considerable talents elsewhere.
New movies coming this weekend
Playing in theaters is The Nun II, a supernatural horror film starring Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet about a strong evil that haunts a town in 1950s France as word gets out a priest has been violently murdered.
Also coming to theaters is My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3, a rom-com starring Nia Vardalos and John Corbett which finds the Portokalos family on a trip to Greece for a family reunion after a death in the family.
Streaming on Amazon Prime is Sitting in Bars With Cake, a dramedy starring Yara Shahidi and Odessa A’zion which follows two best friends in their 20s navigating life in L.A. when one receives a life-altering diagnosis.
