'The Equalizer 3' review: Denzel Washington's action film is gruesome, bloody
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in "The Equalizer 3." Credit: Columbia Pictures /Stefano Montesi
PLOT A retired government agent, hiding in Italy, runs afoul of a local crime ring.
CAST Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Andrea Scarduzio
RATED R (horrific violence)
LENGTH 1:49
WHERE Area theaters.
BOTTOM LINE Washington’s only film franchise comes to a random and very gruesome end.
Looking for a good, solid action flick built around a hero who doles out rough justice? That is not quite what you’ll get in “The Equalizer 3.” Yes, it features the great Denzel Washington in his third go-round as Robert McCall, a former government operator who likes to right wrongs and teach painful lessons. But as the man’s behavior grows increasingly cruel and disturbingly sadistic, you might wonder whether this film understands the difference between a hero and a villain.
That moral dilemma is at the heart of the film, though I wouldn’t say anyone “wrestles” with it, exactly. While shooting up an Italian villa full of drug dealers (one guy crawls away, only to be humiliated by a shotgun blast to the butt), McCall takes a bullet himself and ends up in the hands of a small-town doctor, Enzo (Remo Girone). The kindly doc asks: “Are you a good man, or a bad man?” McCall isn’t sure. He does a lot of glancing at religious iconography: crosses and Christs, saints and supplicants.
As McCall settles into the little village of Altomonte (played beautifully by a town called Atrani) and flirts with a pretty barista (Gaia Scodellaro), he learns that two brothers are extorting and terrorizing the townsfolk. Ah, this is classic stuff, with heavies straight from central casting: Andrea Dodero plays Marco (the brawn) and Andrea Scarduzio is Vincent (the brains). Watching McCall go to work on them would be quite pleasurable if director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) and screenwriter Richard Wenk didn’t ladle on the kind of violence usually seen in a slasher film: severed body parts, popped eyeballs, countless stabbings, a seriously misused corkscrew. Adding to the sense of horror is Marcelo Zarvos’ screeching score.
Wait, one more victim: Dakota Fanning, in the thankless role of Emma, a junior CIA analyst. Fanning tries to play tough and sassy, and she occasionally strikes a spark with Washington (they last shared a screen in “Man on Fire”). Mostly, though, Emma comes off as snippy, defensive and nonessential.
“The Equalizer” films have always been junk; they’re based on a mid-1980s TV show that was no great shakes to begin with. What did Washington ever see in them? Maybe he was inspired by Liam Neeson’s transformation into a highly paid action star. Or maybe, between his many prestige projects, he just wanted to slum it a bit. Either way, it’s too bad that Washington didn’t choose better material for his one big Hollywood franchise. (This, supposedly, is the last chapter.)
On the plus side, “The Equalizer 3” is short — a welcome change from today’s increasingly bloated running times. Thank goodness for small mercies.
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