Without requiring much from the viewer – well, except for forgiveness as it relates to storyline fortitude and predictability – the premise is as plain as day. He comes. He sees. He kills – and in doing so, he saves the day.
The Equalizer 3 earns extra credit for deviations in the opening scenes from its predecessors and an attempted plot twist, but for the most part, it stays true to the franchise’s formula.
In the first two installments of the films begin with Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall doing his best to lead an ordinary, anonymous life. As hard as he tries to quell the urge, the off-the-grid former intelligence officer is triggered into revealing his identity as a killing machine of a certain age who uses murder as his preferred weapon in the fight for peace and justice.
By the movie’s end, no bad guy is safe against the homicidal maniac with an imperishable moral compass that makes one exception in that it allows him to act as karma, consequence, and executioner on behalf of those he deems worthy of his protection.
Director Antoine Fuqua sets the third Equalizer apart by flipping the script with the introduction of McCall’s return in The Equalizer 3. Instead of spending a bit of time waiting for him to be activated, fans will instantly wonder how McCall is going to kill his way out of the corner he’s killed himself into – and why. Then the film reverts to its regularly scheduled program.
McCall takes his righteous rampage from Boston to a stunning seaside town in southern Italy. His close encounter with an unsuspecting adversary leaves him out of commission. Originally there to recalibrate, he forms an instant and unbreakable bond with the townspeople. When they are targeted by the local mafia, McCall becomes the residents’ one-man army.
Washington’s latest iteration of McCall is an illustration of his unwavering on-screen magnetism – as well as his ability to make the most of the narrative he is given. Aside from a few moments of overplayed emotion, Washington is as engaging and entertaining to watch in the role – which is based on a 1980s television show starring Edward Woodward – as he was when he introduced the character nearly a decade ago. The antics of Washington’s McCall have resonated so strongly, that a reboot of the television drama starring Queen Latifah made its way to CBS in 2021.
Washington tries his best not to dim the light of co-star Dakota Fanning as agent Emma Collins, but it is a futile effort. There is a natural chemistry between Fanning and Washington. It feels familiar because it is. When Fanning was the resident adorable child actor of her day, Washington served as her protector with a strikingly similar character premise in Tony Scott’s 2004 action-drama Man on Fire. While Remo Girone manages to stand out as small-town doctor Enzo Arisio, Washington’s presence is so commanding that the rest of the cast is relegated to perfunctory players who deliver the necessary ingredients for the franchise’s formula.
Though few are expecting a mind-bending, cerebral experience when they come to see The Equalizer 3, more concerted efforts to keep viewers invested in the moments between the violent sequences would have been appreciated. Some would have a hint or two about what compelled McCall to take on the mafia in their home turf of Italy – instead of packing it into the last 100 or so seconds of the film.
The Equalizer 3 opened in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 1. The film is rated R with a running time of 109 minutes.