For the uninitiated, the original The Equalizer was a mid-1980s spy thriller television series that starred Edward Woodward as Robert McCall, a mysterious retired intelligence agent who used his skills to become a street-level vigilante, exacting justice on those who were wicked

In the third installment of The Equalizer film franchise, a severely injured Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) takes refuge in a small Italian village. As he convalesces, the troubled former intelligence agent/assassin quickly finds that his time spent with the warm, close-knit community is healing more than his body. Unfortunately, the peace he seeks is disrupted by Mafia thugs who regularly terrorize his sanctuary. Woe to those who would disturb his slumber.

While fans of the original series may lament the rebooted franchise’s divergence from the source material, to say nothing of its inconsistent quality, no one can deny that Denzel Washington’s portrayal of Robert McCall is riveting. In The Equalizer 3, the 68-year-old Washington reminds us that the art of performance isn’t dead and that ripped 20-somethings, blue sky beams, and sets constructed on a MacBook are no substitute for dead-eyed vengeance delivered by a master thespian.

Washington’s characteristic commitment to the role and magnetic charisma carry what is otherwise an utterly forgettable film. In The Equalizer 3, director Antoine Fuqua continues the trend he began in The Equalizer 2 of spending two-thirds of a film introducing tangential subplots in an effort to engender empathy and sympathy, only to produce a rapid-fire conclusion that, while visually interesting, never builds to the intended crescendo and is ultimately empty.

Where Fuqua was able to foster more of the desired effect in The Equalizer 2, thanks to an antagonist responsible for initiating the plot and with a personal connection to Washington’s McCall, this sequel sequel suffers from having two one-dimensional and rather uninteresting villains. Neither is given more than the most superficial criminal motivations. Moreover, the first only motivates the second to action, and the second exists only to give McCall an excuse to exact violence. So, what you end up with is something that loosely resembles a plot built around a set of perfunctory actions.

Not helping anything is Dakota Fanning’s useless character and her distractingly bad casting. Nothing against her abilities; she was excellent in 2005’s War of the Worlds, but she’s more out of place in this role than Kamala Harris giving a speech about AI. As fine an actress as she might be, she is completely unable to affect intimidation. Her character’s inclusion in the action is not only illogical, it’s over before it begins.

Fortunately, a mixture of slightly above-average cinematography, the natural beauty of the Italian coast, and Washington’s virtuosity do their best to rescue this film from its uneven pacing and meandering plot. However, The Equalizer 3 gives little reason for audiences to shell out theater ticket prices instead of waiting for it to hit VOD.

WOKE REPORT

Is It?

• Some might argue that since the original Equalizer was played by a white man, hiring Denzel Washington for the role was a woke diversity choice. However, what makes casting choices woke isn’t necessarily casting a person of color in a role that a white person once played. It’s more nuanced than that.
  • First, switching the role from a prim and proper Englishman to an American helped to better ground the property while also negating James Bond comparisons.
  • Second, the original wasn’t exactly iconic. It was a middling show that lasted for four seasons, and the franchise remained dormant and largely forgotten for over 30 years. Not exactly the same as swapping out Superman.
  • Third, Denzel Washington was cast in the role, not because of his skin color, but rather because he’s one of the greatest actors alive today. No one has better dead and haunted eyes that can switch to warm and inviting in a moment.
    • Further, he’s an actor who could still open a movie in 2014 (the year of the first film’s release), maybe not like Tom Cruise. Still, everyone knows that even a mediocre Denzel Washington film will feature an outstanding Denzel Washington performance. After all, The Equalizer 2 was a by-the-numbers generic action thriller with severe pacing problems and some distractingly bad special effects. Yet, Washington pulled it off.
  • Were the character replaced and gender-swapped with some rando POC (like Queen Latifa, for instance), it would be much easier to argue for wokeness, but Washington owns the role.

Swapped

• Dakota Fanning’s character was clearly written for a “strong independent woman” (i.e., a man). Her sister, Elle Fanning, sees the inherent problems with forcing women into male roles, but Dakota doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo.