Wednesday, 31 January 2024

VOD: The Equalizer 3 (dir: Antoine Fuqua, 2023)

 "Do I look like a guy who kills people?"

This somewhat dreary threequel sees Denzel Washington's cool angel of retribution relocate to Sicily to right wrongdoings that tie in to the series bigger arc, particularly here a violent Mafia gang running a small-town protection racket and international drugs-smuggling.  The new settings are very tourist-picturesque and obviously give the film a different visual aesthetic, otherwise it is pretty much business as usual.  The sparse action sequences have a cartoonish videogame quality, interspersed with slow dialogue scenes and unnecessary padding for its very simple plot.  The small-town troubles are played out well but they do not really gel with the CIA-chasing (and thinly drawn) bigger picture.  Denzel Washington is as always good value and a significant screen presence, but this allegedly final chapter - like its predecessor - does not come close to the first film.



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