The Equalizer 3

Tonight, on On Demand, I watched “The Equalizer 3,” which came out in theaters in September but on premium-on-demand last month. As you may recall, I was not fond of the second film. How is this one compared to the last sequel?

“The Equalizer 3” is not a franchise dragging to the final act. If anything, the third film of the franchise makes a very strong case for at least one more chapter.

Denzel Washington and Director Antoine Fuqua had never done a sequel to any of their largely successful films until this franchise. That’s helped make “The Equalizer” so special. It’s a shortage and one audience can’t take it for granted. It’s a good thing that this partnership has delivered way more than expected.

“The Equalizer 3” starts with an intense opening scene in Southern Italy. Washington’s Robert McCall has left major damage in his path. And he’s got just a few more victims left.

Fuqua doesn’t repeat the popular parts from the previous two films. Franchise fans know the logical method where McCall calculates how to take out overwhelming odds and it stays highly effective. Now, Fuqua lets viewers fill in the gaps. We don’t have to see every death and action happen. Sometimes it’s more effective to leave some elements up to the imagination.

This mission is different as McCall lets his guard down too quickly and gets seriously damaged. Fortunately for McCall, he’s saved by a nice police officer Gio (Eugenio Mastrandrea), and Enzo (Remo Girone), a skilled doctor who understands the need for secrecy. McCall can’t jump back to full strength immediately allowing screenwriter Richard Wenk to give the dangerously effective killer a new look on life.

Jeffrey Lyles said in his review, “And with the majestic views and captivating architecture, it’s not a bad place to set up a new chapter.”

Over time, McCall starts looking at Enzo and Gio as friends along with the friendly waitress Aminah, played by Gaia Scodellaro, who’s written just short of being a love interest. Lyles noted, “His new peaceful existence is threatened when the local mafia start getting more aggressive with their shakedowns and protection money racket.”

Maybe the best part of the film is it has some really wicked, hopeless villains. Andrea Scarduzio and Andrea Dodero are the alpha villains, playing brothers Vincent and Marco, who are frightening the town through intimidation and cruel physical violence. Lyles noted, “They’re not charismatically cool or even get a whiff of great witty dialogue. They’re loathsome awful people who McCall can’t kill off soon enough.”

In the real world where ideas like fairness and justice seem like hopeful thinking it’s nice to watch a movie where villains have to pay real consequences for their actions.

Lyles said, “Since he’s still recovering, McCall can’t immediately jump into action especially when there’s more layers to this racket than initially appears.” McCall calls CIA analyst Emma, played by Dakota Fanning, to bring the situation to her attention.

Lyles credited, “The scenes with Washington and Fanning are the film’s most intentional to showcase his boundless charisma. Fanning is game, giving Emma enough agency that she doesn’t shrink on screen with a focused pursuit of uncovering the case.”

Lyles continued, “There’s an irony in the film taking place in Sicily as the final act has a definite Godfather vibe to it.”

Fuqua’s restraint in holding back on too much violence from McCall’s end works well. To some degree, this is McCall getting pulled back into a life he’d rather leave, but the dangerous acts of the brothers make sure he’s got no choice but to get violent once again. For temperance for most of the film, Fuqua doesn’t hold back when it comes to letting the brutal violence occur constantly.

Lyles noted, “Washington displays a cold, detached prowess as McCall is taking out bad guys. It’s almost like he’s entering a killing trance and he’s just taking out annoying obstacles in his path.”

“The Equalizer 3” shows this franchise still has enough for a fourth movie. If it’s good enough for John Wick, the fourth time can be the charm for Robert McCall too.

I was surprised at how much better this film was compared to the second one. Unlike John Wick, there are a lot of slow moments in the film, which I think is fine. I like that it takes time to build up the action to get to the parts we like. Check this out on premium-on-demand because I think it is worth watching. I don’t think this is currently still playing in theaters, but if not, then you can see it On Demand. If you weren’t a fan of the second movie, then you should see this one. I hear there are talks of another, whether it will be a prequel or a sequel, we will find out.

Thank you for joining in on this review tonight. Look out tomorrow to see what I will end the year off with.

The Equalizer

Special treat today: I just came back from seeing “The Equalizer 2,” one of my most wanting to watch movies this summer. Before I talk about that, I have to talk about the first movie, released in 2014, and what I thought about that.

Retired secret agent Robert McCall, played by Denzel Washington, helps innocent people in danger. When a young prostitute, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, gets assaulted, McCall kills her pimp and goes after the Russian Mafia section.

Kim Newman said in her review, “The premise of the 1985-’89 TV series The Equalizer was less important than the star casting, and this big-screen reboot cannily substitutes Denzel Washington’s brand of quiet, controlled, middle-aged cool for the late Edward Woodward. Washington’s McCall holds down a job in a home supplies depot in Boston and spends his nights reading great works of literature in a diner copied from an Edward Hopper painting... until he spots an injustice being done in the neighbourhood, and turns into a deadly, calculating action man.”

The story is nothing special, with something that feels like a romanticized version of “Taxi Driver” and a guideline demonstration of tattooed Russian Mob man and sneering crooked cops effortlessly surpassed by the protagonist. Newman said, “At 132 minutes, it plays like a slow-motion version of the sort of caper Steven Seagal or Chuck Norris used to wind up inside an hour-and-a-half, with added philosophical brooding. Director Antoine Fuqua, calming down after the ludicrous Olympus Has Fallen, plays up the star’s slightly stiff, almost smug presence — even the action scenes are steadily paced and a trifle pompous.” When McCall does his awesome slow walk away from an amazing explosion he made, it gives attention to the fact that this protagonist wanders everywhere at a slow pace, even in race-against-time epics. Newman mentioned, “Chloë Grace Moretz does something with a conventional tart-with-a-heart part and Marton Csokas seethes as the hero’s ex-Spetsnaz doppelgänger, but this is all Denzel’s show.” After “Man on Fire,” this type of hired avenger isn’t really up to par, but Washington is not even close to not being watchable and his intensity gives power that the script doesn’t really provide. Newman said, “There’s a pleasant low-tech aspect to McCall’s vigilantism, with household and garden tools used to fashion death-traps — though he’s so omnicompetent that there’s seldom any suspense unless innocents are dragged in as hostages, whereupon Washington moderates his stare to suggest he’s especially ticked off.”

Despite being strained and a little tedious, this is a nicely acceptable star film with more than enough honorable vengeance for a time of exclusive pleasures.

I know this movie is basically the usual Denzel Washington revenge plot, but it was still nice and stylized with the way the action was done and thought out. If you’re a Washington fan, like I am, then you should definitely check this one. You will absolutely love this one.

However, what can be said about the sequel, released last month? Let’s find out:

Denzel Washington playing a Lyft driver? Nobody would have thought of that decision. However, in “The Equalizer 2,” the first sequel ever in Washington’s acting career, he gets behind the wheel and picks up riders in the Boston area. Beware of ticking him off. Washington’s character, Robert McCall is still a retired special-ops agent with a mission on equalizing the criminals he meets on the job. His disguise last time was a job at Home Depot, but the Lyft job gives him the ability to see the worst of people. Peter Travers said in his review, “Edward Woodward, who starred in the 1980s series on which The Equalizer is based, never got to lay on rough, R-rated justice like Denzel does.” You’re probably thinking, isn’t the two-time Oscar winner going way down low in a vigilante movie? Yes, but that doesn’t lower his famous strength.

With director Antoine Fuqua returning, the sequel to the first thriller gives Washington a trusted teammate. Being superfluous to tell the description for the character like the first time, the sequel is faster than before. Travers said, “Yes, Richard Wenk’s threadbare script still insists on showing us McCall dispatch a few baddies just to give us a taste of his MO. There an opening scene on a train in Turkey in which the hero makes mincemeat of baby traffickers who’ve stolen a infant from her American mother.” Bet on this man, who wants to help those helpless people, to equalize the criminals.

Just don’t think you’ll get anything original. Remember in the first movie when McCall murdered the Russian pimps to save Teri, the teen prostitute? Now he helps out Miles, played by Ashton Sanders from “Moonlight,” an African-American art student who’s letting his desire to be friends with criminals and drug-addicts. McCall, the main father figure, is not going to let that happen. He gets interrupted when he is visited by his former Agency coworker Susan Plummer, played by Melissa Leo, who still cares about him.

Then something happens to her in Paris that gets McCall worked up. To know more, he goes to his intelligence friend Dave York, played by Pedro Pascal, who thought McCall was dead all these years. Not even close. This builds up to a really violent shootout with the villains (and a kidnapped Miles) in a violent storm near the beach house McCall once lived in with his wife. This is where you get the nicely choreographed bloody gunfight. Fuqua doesn’t waste the violence. Travers said, “It’s just the moral issues that go begging.”

Travers goes on to ask, “Yet the question persists: Why would a quality actor like Washington (who just gave a titanic performance on Broadway in Eugene O’Neill’s classic The Iceman Cometh) waste his time with B-movie bang-bang? You could theorize that this son of a Pentecostal preacher identifies with these Equalizer stories about young people in danger of falling through the cracks of society. He has publicly stated he was once in that position himself and got help.” Regardless of why, Washington brings a sympathy and a significant dramatic weight to the role of McCall that the movie he’s in can’t really match. “The Equalizer 2” feels irregular and not equal. However, Washington isn’t, regardless of the bad accessories, there’s not one better to watch in action.

Now the first one felt like a simple, straightforward plot, but this one felt like two or three stories in one movie. Certain characters you forget were in the movie, but come in again when you forgot about them, and it feels similar with Washington now trying to save the boy like he did with the girl in the first one. However, it’s still nice to see Washington in action and being ninja-like with his murders, so I say definitely check this one out, despite it not being as good as the first one.

Alright, thank you for joining in on today’s review. Look out this Friday for the conclusion of “The Muppet Month.”