The Equalizer 3 - Review Thread

Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua really do deserve credit for taking what, on their surfaces, are standard action movies and elevating them by finding and accentuating the humanity in them. Washington's portrayal of Robert McCall is a big part of that, absolutely, and his performances in these three films serve to highlight his skill as an actor. So many other actors would probably just treat this as "busy work", but Washington puts as much effort into McCall as he would one of his higher-profile roles. There's just something about this guy, as portrayed by Washington, that makes this character so fascinating and insanely likable. You simultaneously buy that he's a caring, warm soul, but also a man grappling with the fact that he can only find peace in violence. Admittedly, a deeper movie would do even more with that portrayal, but the fact that Washington and Fuqua still give McCall that dimension in the first place -- as opposed to just simply making him a stoic badass (although, Washington pulls that off, too) -- gives this movie, much like the first two, a subtly emotional undercurrent that accentuates everything else. With this movie, I was just as entertained seeing McCall go around Sicily and having tea and making friends as I was seeing him bloodily dispatch Mafia members. Despite running the shortest of the films at 109 minutes, The Equalizer 3 still makes ample time in balancing its character-focused components with its action beats. It does enough work in establishing these various dynamics so that it's easy to get invested in the stakes when things start going down. And boy, do they go down.

Fuqua maintains his penchant for solidly-directed action that emphasizes the outright brutal skills of McCall, making you feel the impact of everything, but still finding just the right amount of entertainment value. McCall is not so far away from being a horror movie slasher, yet there is undeniably a certain satisfaction in seeing him mete out punishment to such horrible people. Especially in how Fuqua executes these scenes -- pun intended. Also, the change of setting gives this installment an interestingly different feel, and Fuqua and cinematographer Robert Richardson photograph this place great.