TL;DR – A solid conclusion to the trilogy that does not chart a new course but knows the waters it wants to stay in and revels in it.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film.

The Equalizer 3 Review –

As I arrived a couple of hours early for the first The Creator session, I realised there was enough time to see another movie while I waited and scratch one of the current releases off my pile of shame. There were a couple of options until I saw The Equalizer 3. From memory, I liked The Equalizer 2, and I have often dreamed of living on the Italian coastline. But then I realised who the leading cast member was for this film and who it was for The Creator, and I knew that was a double bill that sold itself.

So to set the scene, a while after the events of 2, we find ourselves away from America and on the island of Sicily, Italy. An older man arrives with his grandson at a winery to discover all his henchmen are dead outside. Walking through the carnage down into the heart of it, we find one personal under guard. But that one person is Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), and a couple of guns will not stop him. Okay, a rifle to the back might. But when he is found by a kind a local carabiniere, Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea), after falling unconscious behind the wheel and saved from bleeding out by local doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone). Robert takes a liking to the town and thinks this is where he could find some peace, and that was the wrong time for the mafia to try and muscle their way into the town.

I think where The Equalizer 3 excels is in its ‘don’t tell, show’ form of filmmaking. If you had never watched a single Equalizer film before now, you would know what type of man Robert is before he even comes into the frame. That slow walk through the country house as carnage litters the kitchen and hallways is more revealing than if we had watched the sequence play out itself. The reverse is true when he ends up in Altamonte, and we get my first experience with a friendship montage where the two friends are a character and the whole town. But you find you kind of just vibe with it, and that’s nice.

From a visual perspective, this is an absolutely stunning film. The Amalfi Coastline is such a beautiful place in Italy, and this film makes the most of every frame. I mean, this is probably just targeted at my romantic heart, but goodness, would I want to live in one of those houses looking over the Mediterranean, sipping tea in my flower garden. Oh, wait, I have digressed. The action sequences are all well shot, and I like how they would backlight Denzel in the smoke/mist and focus on marble statues, leaning into his almost mythical status. Like an entity similar to a djinn that you never want to cross.

From a narrative perspective, I liked that they talked about the coincidence of it all. At one point, Robert tells the mafia to their faces that they just got unlucky with their timing and that had they been there a couple of weeks early, they would have gotten away with it. There is not a lot of depth going on here. Mafia comes into a town, the mafia finds out this is a bad idea, and then the mafia decides not to learn the lesson they have been taught. You care because the film does a good job connecting you with the town and its people. There is a subplot with Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) and Frank Conroy (David Denman), but beyond some banter, you could have removed it from the film, and nothing would have been lost. Also, the wider plot does start to lean into the silliness of Sicario: Day of the Soldado at times. Though Dakota is making the most of every moment, she is on screen.

In the end, do we recommend The Equalizer 3? Yes, we would. It is not doing anything revolutionary. But the setting, solid action scenes, strong supporting cast, and Denzel Washington’s charisma make it an entertaining watch. If you liked The Equalizer 3, we would recommend to you Nobody.   

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched The Equalizer 3?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of The Equalizer 3
Directed by – Antoine Fuqua
Screenplay by – Richard Wenk
Based on – The Equalizer by Michael Sloan & Richard Lindheim
Music by – Marcelo Zarvos
Cinematography by – Robert Richardson
Edited by – Conrad Buff
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Eagle Pictures, Escape Artists, Zhiv Productions & Sony Pictures
Starring – Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, Sonia Ben Ammar, Remo Girone, Gaia Scodellaro, Andrea Scarduzio, Andrea Dodero, Salvatore Ruocco, Alessandro Pess & Bruno Bilotta with Daniele Perrone, Zakaria Hamza, Manuela Tasciotti, Dea Lanzaro, Sonia Ben Ammar, Alessandro Pess, Niccolò Senni & Bruno Bilotta
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: 16; New Zealand: na; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R