Notable Cast: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Gaia
Scodellaro, David Denman, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Remo Girone, Daniele Perrone,
Andrea Scarduzio, Andrea Dodero, Giovanni Scotti, Melissa Leo, Sonia Ammar
Over the last 30 years, the relative variety of films that
Antoine Fuqua has made that exist within the realm of action/thriller/crime has
been fairly impressive. Does anyone remember that he made a historical flick
with Will Smith called Emancipation last year? Probably not, since it
went to Apple and subsequently died a forgotten death, but he did. Yes, he made
one of those too. Yet, the only real “franchise” he has repeatedly returned to
is The Equalizer, the modern update of the 1980s television show
featuring his frequent collaborator Denzel Washington.
Finding relative success with the first two entries, it’s no
shock that The Equalizer 3 was on the docket for some time in the future
even if Denzel is starting to show his age at 68. Trilogies are not easy to
pull off, but the first two entries have only grown on me since their releases
as they are kind of Charles Bronson meets John Woo melodramatic slices of
action cinema. Thus, my expectations - even mediated - were elevated for this
threequel.
The Equalizer 3 is a perplexing puzzle, though.
Despite being the shortest film in the series (by at least 15 minutes) and
featuring the least complicated story and plot, it’s trying to do a lot and
rarely managing to find its identity in doing so. It’s making many bold choices
compared to its predecessors, changing up the film's tone a smidge, fully
taking Denzel’s Robert McCall character out of Boston, and it doesn’t
necessarily land where it needs to thematically or what it's setting up for the
character. Despite some highly entertaining moments elevated by the
Oscar-winning actor, The Equalizer 3 rarely feels equalized in its
balance, and it leaves the trilogy feeling a tad underwhelming.