Denzel Washington completes his impressive The Equalizer trilogy in pretty-much the same way he started it – with an entertaining bang.
The first two films were four-star action stalwarts – and have become a staple of easy-watching repeat-viewing on streaming platforms over the years – and this is thankfully more of the same.
Even though this is probably a ‘shade’ under the previous efforts, due to it being shorter, less fleshed-out – and arguably having a slightly weaker ending.
That said, it has a welcomed change of locale to the beautiful Italian backdrop of Sicily, as Washington’s former CIA operative Robert McCall permanently goes ‘off the grid’ – by retiring in a quaint town to escape his turbulent past.
That comes after he’s injured in the film’s impressive opening salvo, and helped back to health by Remo Girone’s doctor – and then he’s integrated into the community by the kind local folk. And McCall takes a shine to them.
But sadly, dastardly Italian mafia/cartel bad guy Vincent Quaranta (Andrea Scarduzio) – and his younger brother Marco (Andrea Dodero) – and clan, get greedy and start terrorising the locals, as they look to oust people from their homes to make way for river-front property.
Fortunately, McCall has his Man on Fire co-star Dakota Fanning, as CIA field agent Emma Collins, on hand to help break the gang’s drug operation. And when the group start to become physical with his new friends, McCall once again unleashes his unique form of justice.
Which is arguably his most gruesome iteration yet.
Anyone who wasn’t a fan of the first couple in the series won’t find anything here to drag them into the franchise. But if you were, then this is gleefully more of the same. Just maybe a tad more formulaic.
But with Washington’s presence as compelling as ever, this is a very noteworthy – if ultimately more disposable – way to end his enigmatic trilogy.
ESP Rating: 3.5/5
Gavin Miller
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Andrea Scarduzio, Remo Girone, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Gaio Scodellaro, Daniele Perrone, Andrea Dodero & David Denman
Running Time: 1 Hr 49 Mins
Director: Antioine Fuqua
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