The Equalizer 3 (2023) — imperfect thriller salvaged by savagery

ew expected Antoine Fuqua’s The Equalizer (2014) to spawn sequels, not least because Denzel Washington isn’t known for returning to a role multiple times. But The Equalizer 3 completes an action trilogy that’s been a success despite sitting in the shadow of the John Wick films (which produced four films during the exact same timeframe), and perhaps feeling like a lazy way to emulate the success of Taken (2008), which ended its own trilogy the year Equalizer began. Fuqua’s films certainly feel more in the spirit of Taken, if only because both Liam Neeson and Washington came to these sorts of roles later in life. The Equalizer 3 opens in media res with ex-Marine and intelligence agent Robert McCall (Washington) in Sicily, where he’s taken out a winery full of mobsters, only to sustain a life-threatening injury. A carabinieri called Gio (Eugenio Mastrandrea) finds Robert close to death, takes him to a doctor called Enzo (Remo Girone) in the picturesque coastal village of Altamonte, where Robert recuperates and gets to know the locals. Unfortunately, it soon becomes clear this idyllic community and its sweet residents are under the thumb of the Camorra — a mafia-style organisation attempting to transform the village into a lucrative port for illegal drugs. <a href="https://medium.com/framerated/the-equalizer-3-2023-imperfect-thriller-salvaged-by-savagery-bba4bdaba620">Website</a>