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.
Yet, it’s hard not to love the Robert McCall character and
his various misadventures in trying to take his particular set of skills and
put them to good use. The film easily features the least amount of action in
the trilogy. Still, the film attempts to do some intriguing things with it,
particularly since it’s trying to cover up Denzel’s age and ability to complete
the action sequences. A flashback towards a one-man siege of a Sicilian winery
is told in first person POV, the finale feels like Denzel channeling Batman
with his shadow disappearing act, and the overall film is more focused on the
character trying not to extract the right hand of God justice on the oppressors
of this small Italian village. When the action does pop, it’s popping, but
don’t expect the cat-and-mouse hurricane battle or trust-fund-bro beatdowns of
the previous films.
With its simple story where McCall stumbles into a mafia
shakedown of a small Italian village that has him staying there, starting to
find peace at the end of his time on this earth, and how the two collide, one
might expect that this film’s themes around moving on would be stronger though.
The Equalizer 3 kicks off that way, introducing a potential new love
interest for him, how his fatherly vibes start to gel with the locals, or the
choice for him to put his digital watch in the drawer by the bed as a choice to
stop his equalizing ways. Yet, all of those choices felt abandoned in the third
act. There are no choices made with any of them to finalize any of those
thematic threads, and despite its best efforts to send the character off in a
heartfelt manner, it all feels manufactured and out of rhythm for the first two
acts of the film. It’s rushed, to say the least, and, dare I say it, the film
feels like it needed that 15 to 20 more minutes to tie everything up.
One of the more intriguing plots of The Equalizer 3
is the introduction of Dakota Fanning as CIA operative Emma. Almost
immediately, the film introduces her and, unlike its predecessors, gives her
almost a partner-like role to McCall in breaking down the mafia’s international
criminal activities. Emma becomes almost a protege to McCall in the first two
acts, which seems in line with the potential retirement of the character as he
looks to settle down and find some peace. Then the movie makes the baffling
choice to sideline her for the entire third act and never really ties together
that thread. It’s as if The Equalizer 3 wanted to create a ‘passing of
the torch’ narrative but never had the initiative to see it through. It leaves
the film feeling unfinished in some regards.
The Equalizer 3 feels rushed, like it was filmed with
an unfinished script or that the entire third act was plagued by reshoots that
removed the character Emma and some of the thematic threading to keep the
series open for potential sequels or continuations. Yet, with the steady hand
of director Fuqua and another elevated and layered performance by Denzel, the
threequel does remain an entertaining entry into the series. It’s a bit blander
visually with its bleached-out colors from new DP Robert Richardson, but it's
trying to progress the tone and change things up in a way that deserves some
respect, even if the results are a step down for the series.
The Equalizer 3 never quite manages to finish the
task it seemingly set out to do, but it’s entertaining enough, and fans of
Denzel or the character will find plenty to love.
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