The Equalizer 3 (2023)

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, and Roy from The Office
Grade: A+

I’m fully convinced Robert McCall can take Batman in a fight.

Summary

In Sicily, Italy, gangster Lorenzo Vitale (Bruno Bilotta) travels with his grandson to his winery. When he approaches, he sees dead bodies all over the property. He gets his gun, has his son wait in the car, and goes inside with one of his henchmen, where they find even more dead bodies savagely killed in different ways. They get down to the basement to find Robert McCall (Washington) in a chair, with two of Vitale’s henchmen pointing guns at him. As he cleans off some blood, McCall states that he’s here because Vitale took something that doesn’t belong to him, and he’s here to get it back. He gives Vitale nine seconds to decide his fate and clocks it on his watch. Quickly, he pulls one henchman’s gun in to shoot the other guy and swiftly shoots everyone else in the room. Vitale tries to crawl away, but McCall shoots him in the ass with a shotgun and shoots him again in the face when he lays up against a barrel. McCall takes the keys from his belt, sits down to clean some blood off his hands, and goes outside. He points the gun at Vitale’s son who tries to get out of the car, but he lowers the gun when he sees the kid will listen. McCall walks over to the truck, but the damn kid shoots him in the back. McCall fires in the air wildly and sees the kid, who drops the gun and runs. Wounded, McCall sits down and immediately tries to shoot himself, but he’s out of bullets.

He manages to take a ferry to the mainland. That night, a carabiniere named Gio (Eugenio Mastrandrea) finds an unconscious McCall parked on the side of the road, sitting in the driver’s seat. He takes McCall to Altamonte to see his good friend and doctor Enzo (Remo Girone), who gives McCall an immediate surgery that saves his life. Once McCall comes back to consciousness, Enzo gives him some basic questions and tries to check on him. Though McCall is initially apprehensive, he relents when Enzo shows him that he can be trusted. Following this, McCall spends some time resting in Enzo’s home. Finally, McCall wakes up and is a bit more coherent, so Enzo makes some soup for him and hands him some water. They reveal their names to each other, and McCall asks where he is. To which Enzo responds, “Where you’re supposed to be”.

Using Enzo’s father’s cane, McCall walks outside to greet Enzo later in the day. It’s been three days since the incident, but McCall has been progressing well. He takes a stroll through the city, notices where certain cameras are on certain buildings, and gets to a cafe where he orders his signature tea, though they give him a cappuccino because the waiter understood him wrong. Even so, he accepts it. Gio approaches with his daughter Gabby (Dea Lanzaro) to greet him. Sending Gabby into the cafe, he talks privately with McCall at his table. He swears on Enzo’s credentials, talking about how he helped deliver him, his parents, and most of the people in this city, a city Gio greatly cares for. Before giving McCall the keys to his car which he has parked behind the station, he promises he didn’t look in his bags. McCall thanks Gio, and Gio collects Gabby to leave. Sweet little Gabby then runs back and gifts McCall a cookie before exiting. That night, McCall calls the CIA Financial Operations Group and gets Agent Emma Collins (Fanning). He tries to tell her about the scene at the vineyard in Sicily, but she hangs up on him when he refers to himself as a “concerned citizen” when she asks who it is. McCall redials and gets Collins again, going on with further details about the vineyard and how there are 55 crates of wine there imported by the Middle East, possibly Syria by the looks of it. Now, she’s a bit intrigued, so he knows he called the right person. McCall thinks it’s a repackaging operation and she’s going to need a physical access team. When she asks how he would know this, he dismisses it by saying he was just “passing through”. Since the CIA Financial Operations Group tracks suspect money sources, he felt that they could use the information.

When she tries to write it down, McCall reminds her that everything on the line is recorded so there’s no need to. With this, he hangs up on her. Right after, Collins locates the vineyard on her computer and calls her superior for a potential op situation. McCall takes his signature watch and puts it inside his bedside table next to a bible.

Sometime after, McCall takes another stroll through the city, but he continues to struggle with his injuries, resting on some steps after the pain becomes too much. Laying in bed, McCall gets a flashback to a conversation with Susan from The Equalizer when he said, “One day, someone does something unspeakable to someone else, and you do something about it ’cause you can”. It transitions to a POV shot of what McCall did to all of Vitale’s henchmen in the opening of the movie, savagely murdering every last one of them. At a restaurant, McCall sees his waitress stop in her tracks when members of the Camorra pull up. Once she leaves, a young worker and son of the owner hands off money in an envelope to the leader, Marco Quaranta (Andrea Dodero). Later, McCall is at the cafe from earlier, and waitress Aminah (Gaia Scodellaro) introduces herself as she serves him his tea. Following this, McCall entrenches himself more into the city’s people and culture, even buying some new clothes and befriending a lot of the locals. One day, he walks by a grocery store and sees the biker gang. After greeting a worker there named Khalid, he overhears Marco beating the hell out of store owner Angelo (Daniele Perrone) for payments. At first, McCall tries to ignore things as he stares at a cross in the mountains. When Marco leaves with his gang, another member notes to him that McCall has been staring. Even so, they leave after collecting the money from Angelo’s son. McCall doesn’t like what he sees at all, and it’s obvious. In Naples, Italy, Marco’s brother Vincent (Andrea Scarduzio) is a high-ranking Camorra member. Marco greets him with Angelo’s payment, which he pockets. As they talk, their wheelchair bound father is hung out the window and killed on Vincent’s orders. McCall has a pleasant dinner with Enzo at Enzo’s place. Once they talk about getting food for the next day, McCall insists he can run out and get the fish for him since Enzo’s done so much for him.

The next day, McCall buys fish from Angelo’s market. Aminah runs in and compliments the fish McCall gets, so he knows he’s buying the right one. Since McCall is buying for Enzo though, Angelo insists this visit is on the house. The CIA investigates the vineyard with Collins leading the charge. Agent Frank Conroy (David Denman) finds that each wine bottle contains a baggy with synthetic amphetamine fenethylline hydrochloride in tablet form. Apparently, it’s what ISIS members use to stay amped for days. On top of that, they find $11 million in cash. They have nothing from the cameras though, as they all went out at the same time. No prints were found on any of the weapons used. Outside the house, Collins discusses the details with Frank where she deduces that terrorists out of Syria are “smuggling their jihad drug here” by repackaging them and shipping them to the mainland. Frank realizes that from there, it’s no longer international cargo, but the money is something else entirely and not really their problem as it could be money laundering or cyber theft. However, a terrorist faction not on their radar bringing contraband to this farm is. Collins adds that this is the fourth shipment they’ve had. Over the past 18 months, this vineyard shipped 200 cases of wine a month, and three months ago they started shipping 500. On a rainy day, Enzo checks on McCall’s wound and says he’s almost good to go. Changing the subject, McCall asks what Enzo sees when he looks at him because of the fact that Enzo never called the police and helped him himself. Enzo reminds him of the first thing he asked him, which was if he was a good man or a bad man. McCall didn’t know, and Enzo is sure that only a good man would say something like that.

Just as McCall is now walking without a cane, Vincent is seen at church before exiting to greet Marco and a few cohorts.

One night, it looks like McCall is finally leaving. He packs up his things and treks out into town only to be stopped by all the townspeople gathering to see Angelo’s store set on fire, burning up not only his business but all of his memories too, with a lot of pictures of his family and drawings from his kids being incinerated. Angelo is emotional as the people try to hold him back, and McCall sees it all firsthand. Looking to the other side, he notices Marco and his gang watching the whole thing from a distance since they did it. That night, McCall stops in at a church. He decides to stay in Altamonte for a while, and he along with many others help Angelo clean up his store. As Gio investigates security camera footage and spots a van that was there at the scene, McCall stops in at the cafe. Aminah strikes up conversation with him over his peculiar tendencies regarding how he prepares his napkin and such for tea. They discuss how McCall makes his own meals, his favorite dish of chili con carne, and how she wants to show McCall the real food of Altamonte. She wants him to come with and he’s almost stunned at her kindness, agreeing to come along. They walk and talk in a food market and enjoy a meal together, with Aminah talking about how she has owned the cafe for 20 years after taking over from her parents. McCall spends some more time hanging around, and the locals start to see him as one of them. As time passes, he’s much healthier too, easily walking up and down the stairs and alleyways that he had trouble with not too long ago. Truthfully, he’s starting to really love it here, but the members of the Camorra will try to ruin his stay by terrorizing these good people.

Well, if McCall has to become this city’s protector, than he will be exactly that.

My Thoughts:

Not only is The Equalizer 3 a rewarding conclusion to the franchise, but it’s arguably the best film in the series.

Taking the personal and low-key neighborhood elements of the first movie but putting it in a different and less-used setting, continuing on with the charming Robert McCall’s penchant for befriending and loving the people who exist in his environment because it gives him a reason to keep going (which exists in all the movies), and inserting an agency subplot and an international location like in the second movie to make this finale to the series feel like it’s on a larger scale despite being in one place, The Equalizer 3 takes all the good things about the franchise to give us one last satisfying hurrah. Once again, the team of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington impress. It’s clear they hold a deep respect for the character they have created and the foundation they established with their modern retelling of The Equalizer way back in 2014, with each sequel logically progressing the character, how he approaches life, and how he interacts with his environment and its people as he ages. With The Equalizer 3, it starts off with a dark intro fitting for someone who has killed and killed for years on end. Robert McCall is still doing what he does best, as we see the aftermath of his savagery upon entering this gangster’s vineyard. Bodies are everywhere, with each kill being more ferocious than the last. It’s like a scene out of a horror movie. When they walk into that room to see McCall sitting on his chair and wiping up blood, it’s as if they are staring directly at the “Boogeyman” himself. Despite his motivations still being the same, McCall is different and more icy-cold than usual. Where he is at currently in his life feels different. Maybe the aftermath of the home improvement store from the first Equalizer looked the same as this vineyard and things haven’t changed but seeing it firsthand in the manner it’s presented makes you look at McCall differently this time around. It’s like his soul has been blackened from all the killing. In this opening sequence, he carries the aura of a serial killer or even a butcher more than a vigilante, and it’s startling to say the least.

Cool, cold, calculated, and waiting for his moment to strike again, McCall finishes off the rest of them after a little speech, as blood splatters over the rest of the room. It’s angry, and you can’t help but feel how far McCall has gone over the deep end when combined with Marcelo Zarvos’s score that demands your attention, preparing you for the internalized, blood-boiling feelings of McCall when he’s about to pounce on evil. The specific song I’m referring to is “Nine Seconds”, and it sounds like something Kanye West would cook up during his “Yeezus” era. The screeching sounds of the cords cannot be ignored, and it gives off a whole different vibe to McCall and his killings this time around. The intent of the song is pure viciousness, perfectly encapsulating the mind of our protagonist when he finds himself in the middle of such violence. It’s a blinding noise and it forces you to focus on McCall and the unblinking death stare of Denzel Washington as he looks into the souls of his enemies, not regretting a single thing he has done to those he deems evil. With the score magnifying the intensity of the sequences as the hair raises on your arms, Robert McCall’s words become bone-chilling as he states without hesitation how he will kill the two men pointing guns at him, how the one guy doesn’t even know it, and how he feels sorry for his family. With added details like this, and when Denzel isn’t happily interacting with the locals, The Equalizer 3 tiptoes on the lines of a full-on slasher film, especially with the startling ending to the climax as he walks and sings alongside his final kill before calmly eating an apple like he’s not one of the scariest people to walk the planet. Somehow, Antoine Fuqua still manages to maintain the film’s tone, balancing the darkness of the violence this time around (that hits an all-time high for the series) while also maintaining the heart of the movie, with McCall turning around and finally enjoying life like never before. Here, this is the most open our main character has ever been.

Maybe it’s because he’s in Italy and no one knows him like they did in Boston, or maybe it’s the excitement of being in such a beautiful town that he’s never seen before like Altamonte. Regardless, this is the happiest we have seen McCall since the beginning of the series. Based off of the bloodthirsty opening sequence, he needs this. He needs this moment to hit pause and come back to the realization as to why he started defending the innocent in the first place. At some point along the way, he got too deep into the violence and has almost forgot about the positives. McCall finding himself in Altamonte reminds him about how there’s still good in the world, and it brings back his humanity when he was on the verge of losing it completely. He just needed to find it again with these people, and it makes the audience happy seeing him happy. Sure, McCall would still laugh and enjoy himself in the first two movies, and he was genuinely happy in The Equalizer 2 just hearing other people do good in their lives when he was working as a Lyft driver, but in The Equalizer 3, he finally has time to himself. There is no time clock. In fact, he puts his watch away, signifying that he’s not only enjoying the life he stumbled upon and just wants to exist in the present but also that he’s considering retirement because he’s loving this little town and its welcoming people. Day to day, McCall visits the cafe and becomes a regular and just sits outside, surveying the scene and relishing on how he managed to find himself here when he was on the verge of committing suicide during the opening sequence. In fact, he would have done it had he just had one more bullet. However, it was all for a reason, just like in Man on Fire. As is typical with a lot of Denzel Washington features, there are some Christian themes found within the plot and the McCall character. Once McCall has time to spend in Altamonte as he recovers from his injuries, he has time to process things.

He goes to church, the bible is seen in his bedside table where he temporarily retires his watch, and when he hears Marco Quaranta beat the hell out of Angelo in his store, McCall tries to ignore it as he looks at a cross in the distance. What he starts to realize is that divine intervention brought him here to this small town in Italy. His potential suicide was stopped, and he was saved on the side of a road by Gio not just by random luck. He was brought to Altamonte because they need his help. It was all fate. He was trying his best at ignoring it until he realized he had to do something like when Marco was threatening Gio’s family at the restaurant. Finally, he stepped in. When Marco tries to intimidate him by bringing up how he must like being in other people’s business, McCall admits he was trying very hard not to be, but “You make it very challenging for me”. McCall could be here in Altamonte for retirement, but not just yet. McCall says it himself when face to face with Marco in the restaurant stating, “If this was 3 weeks ago, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, but I’m here now”. He was brought here because these people need help. Calling him a disciple may be too much considering how sadistic some of his kills are, but it’s just like what was said in the first movie. He has the ability to do something when others can’t. Just like in The Equalizer 2, McCall knows he will pay for his sins a hundred times over, so him inserting himself into the action to defend those in need prevents the innocent from becoming sinners had they mustered up the courage to kill back. McCall knows where he stands in death, so he is the one needed to solve this problem where bloodshed is the only solution. McCall is trying to repair his injured spirit along with his bodily injuries leading up to this point, but he’s been called upon one more time to murder anyone who threatens this small town. Once again, he has found his purpose, and it remains the same. Bringing up Man on Fire again, McCall’s intentions this time around fit well with the words of John W. Creasy in that “Forgiveness is between them and God. It’s my job to arrange the meeting”.

Speaking of that other beloved vigilante action movie, Dakota Fanning is also brought in to fan the flames for what fans see as almost an unofficial sequel to the famous Tony Scott film. In a perfect world, Creasy would have survived, and Pita would have grown up to become the motivated, hungry, and intelligent young woman that Emma Collins is here. It wouldn’t be too hard to believe that Pita would have chosen something in law enforcement to hunt bad guys after what she went through as a kid, right? Dakota Fanning’s casting was a great choice just because of the history the two share together. It’s a full circle moment for fans and gives Fanning a chance to show all she’s learned as an actress after all these years. Their characters are metafictional in a way, with the way they interact. Washington as McCall deals with Fanning’s Collins as if the actor sees how well she’s doing as an adult but still sees how she’s wet behind the ears and needs a guiding light, albeit a small one because he respects her and knows she will do the rest on her own. At the same time, Fanning’s Collins interacts with him like she’s smarter than he’s giving her credit for and she’s trying to prove her savvy, even though she has nowhere near the experience he has. It may not be the intention of the screenplay, but it’s hard not to see it through this lens with Fanning’s casting. This isn’t a bad thing either. It only enhances this new character and endears her to the audience in short time like when she’s humbled time and time again by McCall’s responses (“Aren’t you just full of tips”). This allows for the audience to enjoy when she gets more confidence in her job and come face to face with a prisoner and tell him directly that this isn’t a negotiation, and he will give up the information she needs. This is what a lot of modern movies are missing when trying to build female characters. They try to force feed their dominance in the story and it comes off as preachy.

Here however, this is Collins’s first field assignment, and her confidence needs to be knocked down a couple of begs before she evolves into the strong female presence that she has the potential in being. In doing so, it works, and the viewer cares to see how her “B story” turns out in the midst of the action. Plus, it’s pretty funny watching her bite her lip when McCall predicts her every move and laughs it off as he does it like when she tries to play tough with him in the cafe by threatening to take him in for questioning, with him smiling and continuing on by saying with the utmost certainty that she needs jurisdictional approval for something like that. Then, he follows it up with correctly guessing every step she made to find him, and she tries her best at a poker face but is clearly bothered by his accuracy much like Teddy in the first Equalizer in his sit-down with McCall. Their second interaction is just as good like when Collins talks about how she looked into McCall and calls him an apparent “ghost” to which he jokingly responds, “Boooo”. They don’t have a lot of scenes together, but it’s totally fine. It’s just enough to keep things interesting and develop the subplot of the movie, without taking anything away from what McCall is doing. They help out each other’s storylines with the small interactions they have, and it makes every movement the characters make meaningful.

Once again, I will state that The Equalizer 3 is not for the faint of heart. It’s not the regular action movie you have seen in the previous two films of the series. The violence is darker and even monstrous in its execution. The surgery that saves McCall’s life is even a little much, as the blood gushes out of his back. The savagery from the villains like when Gio gets his ass kicked in front of his family is bad enough that you are begging for McCall to match it tenfold, which is something he does wholeheartedly. A man who isn’t afraid of death is someone everyone should be afraid of, and McCall reaches this level in the opening and again when Vincent threatens to kill Gio in the center of Altamonte. By this time, you’re practically standing up and cheering because you want to see McCall wreak havoc like only he can. Vincent, played very well by virtual unknown Andrea Scarduzio, is ready to flex his wickedness, promising he will be back with a vengeance. What Vincent doesn’t realize is that when McCall welcomes it and asks him to hurry back because he’ll be here, he just brought out the demon, or archangel depending on how you look at the circumstances. When “Nine Seconds” comes back in that climax and the blood drips down from the ceiling to wake up Vincent in his bed, you can’t wait for the one-man army to clean up in a more devastatingly brutal manner than ever before. Even when he compresses Marco’s median nerve and threatens to take it a “4” early on, you find yourself yelling at the screen for him to do so like some sort of twisted catharsis.

Funnily enough, a big issue I’ve had with Steven Seagal’s old action movies was how easily he was able to slay his opponents and the main villain without so much as a scratch on him when it comes to the end of all his movies. The Equalizer 3 takes a similar approach however, but it completely works because of how well the story is told, how vile the villains and the actions they engage in are, and how well the movie is directed. It’s basically an unofficial example of great filmmaking verses second-rate, direct-to-video action filmmaking.

As it happened in the previous two films, Robert McCall is asked, “Who are you?” in the closing moments of the action. When viewing the other movies in the series, I always wondered if it was too on-the-nose for him to respond by simply stating, “The Equalizer”. When it was asked again here, I thought they were saving it for this final movie, but it’s left open-ended. Once we see McCall smiling again and at peace for the first time in his life, we come to the realization that it doesn’t matter. Seeing where our hero has started and ended, with him finally getting to enjoy the pleasantries of life because of the fruits of his labor, evokes a sense of joy to see him be at ease. Enzo is right. Though he has done some bad things, he is a good man, and it makes us feel good knowing he’s on the road to a spiritual recovery. The Equalizer 3 is such a beautiful conclusion that despite how much we have become fans of this franchise over the years, we surprisingly don’t want the character to saddle up again. It’s done so magnificently that Robert McCall has earned his rest and cinematic retirement.

Now that is how you finish a trilogy.