There鈥檚 an about considering Denzel Washington is right over here, walking around.
Antoine Fuqua鈥檚 a taut and textured sequel to Washington鈥檚 vigilante series, isn鈥檛 one of the actor鈥檚 best films. It wouldn鈥檛 crack his top 10. But it vividly encapsulates Washington鈥檚 formidable on-screen potency.
You might think this would be in the movie鈥檚 brutal action sequences, but no. It鈥檚 the scenes of Washington fastidiously having a cup of tea at a sidewalk cafe or strolling the streets of a Sicilian town. This is a movie stitched together less by its plot mechanics than the pleasure of watching Denzel smirk, scowl and smile, in leisurely scenes mixed in with all the murder.
In that way, the 鈥淓qualizer鈥� movies (the third of which is certainly the best of a so-so bunch), remind me of those great Walter Matthau thrillers like and 鈥� movies about old men with expressive eyebrows who are set in their ways but have plenty of tricks left up their sleeve. (Washington, now 68, also took over Matthau鈥檚 role in the remake of )
There鈥檚 no shortage these days of older stars plying their special sets of skills in action thrillers. Throw a stone in a movie theater and you鈥檙e likely to hit (and risk drawing the lethal ire of) Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. 鈥淓qualizer 3,鈥� an all-in-all good entry in the genre, is on the bloodier end of the spectrum.
Yet curiously neither the fight sequences (rapid and grotesque) nor the film鈥檚 sense of suspense (perfunctory) are much of a selling point. The film, scripted by Richard Wenk, opens with a trail of bodies through the main house of an Sicily vineyard. In the wine cellar calmly sits Robert McCall (Washington), who shrugs, 鈥淲ouldn鈥檛 let me in, so鈥︹��
鈥淭he Equalizer鈥� is loosely based on an 1980s TV series about a former intelligence service agent who spends his retirement bringing the scales of justice back in balance for regular folks he happens to encounter. And there鈥檚 a pleasantly episodic quality to the third film in the series.
A bullet in the back leaves McCall laid up in recovery after he鈥檚 taken in by a kindly village doctor named Enzo (Remo Girone). We鈥檙e in Southern Italy. Most of the film was shot along the Amalfi coast, specifically the enchanting medieval fishing village of Atrani.
If there鈥檚 one truly implausible thing about 鈥淓qualizer 3,鈥� it鈥檚 the fact that there isn鈥檛 a tourist in sight. McCall, who once out of bed strolls the village鈥檚 cobbled steps with a cane, seems to be the only American in town. He鈥檚 quickly charmed by the people who warmly welcome the 鈥淎mericano.鈥�
And the same time, the Camorra mafia is pushing harder into the village, with intentions of driving out locals to make room for hotels and casinos. They make a small army of designer-dressed, tattoo-covered thugs, and they descend on the village, unaware of the lurking elite vigilante quietly sipping tea across the street from their shakedowns or eating pasta at the next table.
The well-traveled Fuqua, who helmed both prior 鈥淓qualizer鈥� movies and first directed Washington in 鈥淭raining Day,鈥� is in his genre wheelhouse here. He trails McCall patiently and soaks up the local color, with a few touches of Christian imagery from the church above the town. There鈥檚 a sinister, ominous sense of evil scourges 鈥� a heinous drug from Syria, sold by the mafia is funding terrorists cells 鈥� seeping into a society of 鈥済ood people.鈥�
The clear dichotomy of good and bad is cozy, and so, too, is Washington鈥檚 savage, untroubled dispatching of the mafia ring. There are CIA officials in the mix, too, including Dakota Fanning鈥檚 desk clerk turned operative. But they are mostly following McCall鈥檚 lead. He 鈥� Washington really 鈥� is in a league of his own, and 鈥淓qualizer 3,鈥� smartly, doesn鈥檛 even try to suggest it鈥檚 a close race. Not all are created equal, after all.
鈥淓qualizer 3,鈥� a Sony Pictures release, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for strong bloody violence and some language. Running time: 109 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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