It's been a while since I watched the first two Equalizers, but I remember them quite fondly as fun movies that found a nice balance between a simple yet effective story and brutal, well-made action scenes. So when I discovered that a third installmant was arriving soon, I was excited.
Today, that excitement was shattered upon actually seeing the movie. The Equalizer 3 stars Denzel Washington, of course. And he is once again brilliant. The story here is that Denzel runs into an international drug trafficking ring by accident while trying to steal back his Uber driver's pension fund. The opening is amazing, showing off beautiful cinematography and a creative action sequence in true Equalizer style. Enjoy it while it lasts, because that's the last you'll see of that.
After killing off a few mobsters, Denzel passes out by the side of the road and gets picked up by a random guy who just happens to be the son of a doctor who in turn just happens to like caring for random people with bullet wounds. Of course he is also called Enzo and he is an almost offensively stereotypical Italian. For the next hour or so, prepare to watch Denzel Washington drink tea. This movie contains more shots of Denzel drinking tea than it does of him firing a gun. In this little Italian town everyone loves Denzel for no apparent reason, to the point where random kids and grandmas walk up to him and give him gifts without even knowing him. There's a woman who basically throws herself at Washington from the second she sees him. Within a week, the people call him "one of them" and will literally die for him. It's just because he's American it seems, because he doesn't do much else. He watches the mafia terrorize the town and the people he apparently loves so much, but he doesn't actually get involved for weeks, not even when his favorite shop is burned to the ground.
Meanwhile, there's a hesitant subplot where a CIA agent is investigating the drug trafficking ring. She comes to Italy but doesn't seem too bothered with investigating the actual criminals. She just hangs around harrassing Denzel, who is not even trying to hide that he's guilty of many murders at this point. She acts like she's this accomplished agent, but literally all she does is repeat Denzel's findings to her superiors and take the credit for them. She explodes somewhere halfway through the movie and they basically give her a promotion and a medal of honor for it.
The mafia itself starts out quite menacing. They are well cast and very violent, but by the time Denzel finally starts killing them (over an hour into the movie) he immediately kills off all the good mobsters in an underwhelming 30 second shot. That's that then. Now all we have left is Victor, a stereotypical mob boss with not much character to him. He's just evil and he likes money and Ferraris. He is now real angry at Denzel for killing his brother and they have a standoff in the town square. It's quite cool and I was getting ready for an amazing shootout, but instead Victor just leaves to go eat spaghetti with his friends. I'm not kidding. This mob boss, apparently the head of five huge crime families, then goes to take a nap with only a few bodyguards around even though he knows this masterful assassin is hunting him down.
The final action scene mostly just killed my last bit of hope for this movie. The kills are dull and are just Denzel picking off guards with a knife one by one in pitch dark rooms. Victor barely puts up a fight and basically dies by getting hit by a Fiat Punto. That was it. The final Equalizer movie is now over and it contained maybe three minutes of actual Equalizing, most of which was incredibly boring. The cinematography is quite beautiful at times, the acting is great across the board, the Italian vibes are amazing and there's a few good and/or funny lines. But overall this movie was just an incredible letdown. I don't mind a slow buildup, but this doesn't build up to anything. The first half could've been great if the second half had a proper payoff, but all Denzel does is drink more tea and kill maybe five people to bring down the entire Italian mafia. The romantic subplot that is set up gets no real conclusion, the ending suddenly introduces a weird plot point that was never mentioned before and then it ends abruptly.
Not every action movie has to be John Wick with non-stop firepower, but I do expect there to be some actual action. The Equalizer 3 never really delivers. It's a very pretty display of the Amalfi coast and Denzel's acting, but that's about it. It's a shame.
Today, that excitement was shattered upon actually seeing the movie. The Equalizer 3 stars Denzel Washington, of course. And he is once again brilliant. The story here is that Denzel runs into an international drug trafficking ring by accident while trying to steal back his Uber driver's pension fund. The opening is amazing, showing off beautiful cinematography and a creative action sequence in true Equalizer style. Enjoy it while it lasts, because that's the last you'll see of that.
After killing off a few mobsters, Denzel passes out by the side of the road and gets picked up by a random guy who just happens to be the son of a doctor who in turn just happens to like caring for random people with bullet wounds. Of course he is also called Enzo and he is an almost offensively stereotypical Italian. For the next hour or so, prepare to watch Denzel Washington drink tea. This movie contains more shots of Denzel drinking tea than it does of him firing a gun. In this little Italian town everyone loves Denzel for no apparent reason, to the point where random kids and grandmas walk up to him and give him gifts without even knowing him. There's a woman who basically throws herself at Washington from the second she sees him. Within a week, the people call him "one of them" and will literally die for him. It's just because he's American it seems, because he doesn't do much else. He watches the mafia terrorize the town and the people he apparently loves so much, but he doesn't actually get involved for weeks, not even when his favorite shop is burned to the ground.
Meanwhile, there's a hesitant subplot where a CIA agent is investigating the drug trafficking ring. She comes to Italy but doesn't seem too bothered with investigating the actual criminals. She just hangs around harrassing Denzel, who is not even trying to hide that he's guilty of many murders at this point. She acts like she's this accomplished agent, but literally all she does is repeat Denzel's findings to her superiors and take the credit for them. She explodes somewhere halfway through the movie and they basically give her a promotion and a medal of honor for it.
The mafia itself starts out quite menacing. They are well cast and very violent, but by the time Denzel finally starts killing them (over an hour into the movie) he immediately kills off all the good mobsters in an underwhelming 30 second shot. That's that then. Now all we have left is Victor, a stereotypical mob boss with not much character to him. He's just evil and he likes money and Ferraris. He is now real angry at Denzel for killing his brother and they have a standoff in the town square. It's quite cool and I was getting ready for an amazing shootout, but instead Victor just leaves to go eat spaghetti with his friends. I'm not kidding. This mob boss, apparently the head of five huge crime families, then goes to take a nap with only a few bodyguards around even though he knows this masterful assassin is hunting him down.
The final action scene mostly just killed my last bit of hope for this movie. The kills are dull and are just Denzel picking off guards with a knife one by one in pitch dark rooms. Victor barely puts up a fight and basically dies by getting hit by a Fiat Punto. That was it. The final Equalizer movie is now over and it contained maybe three minutes of actual Equalizing, most of which was incredibly boring. The cinematography is quite beautiful at times, the acting is great across the board, the Italian vibes are amazing and there's a few good and/or funny lines. But overall this movie was just an incredible letdown. I don't mind a slow buildup, but this doesn't build up to anything. The first half could've been great if the second half had a proper payoff, but all Denzel does is drink more tea and kill maybe five people to bring down the entire Italian mafia. The romantic subplot that is set up gets no real conclusion, the ending suddenly introduces a weird plot point that was never mentioned before and then it ends abruptly.
Not every action movie has to be John Wick with non-stop firepower, but I do expect there to be some actual action. The Equalizer 3 never really delivers. It's a very pretty display of the Amalfi coast and Denzel's acting, but that's about it. It's a shame.