All things being equal, we love watching Denzel Washington demolish bad guys. Which means we are excited as all get out that The Equalizer 3 is hitting cinemas on August 31.
Not to be confused with the television series starring Queen Latifah, The Equalizer franchise is a reboot/remake/re-something of the classic 1980s TV series that starred Edward Woodward as ex-CIA agent Robert McCall, who spent several seasons making up for a lifetime of dirty deeds by becoming a kind of freelance vigilante, helping various people with occasionally lethal intensity.
In the big screen iteration, as directed by Antoine Fuqua, “occasionally” becomes “frequently”, with Denzel’s McCall reimagined as man capable of the kind of violence usually dished out by Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers.
At first taste, it seems like McCall has finally found peace in The Equalizer 3, having retired to sunny southern Italy. But wouldn’t you know it? The mafia are making moves in his chosen retirement spot, forcing McCall to once again leave the bodies piled high and in various states of dismemberment. Good times.
But what’s really exciting is that The Equalizer 3 once again sees Washington sharing the screen with Dakota Fanning. The last time that happened was way back in 2004, when Denzel played Creasey, bodyguard to Fanning’s precocious Lupita, in Tony Scott’s masterful actioner Man on Fire. You’ll recall what happened to pretty much every bad guy in Mexico City in that one, and no doubt we can expect more of the same here—it’s never a good idea to endanger Dakota when Denzel’s around.
For real, we love that an actor of Washington’s status and acclaim still enjoys slumming it a little in the action idiom, capping heads and taking names when he’s not thanking the Academy. It’s been vaguely hinted that this might be McCall’s last ride, but frankly, we’ll take more Equalizer movies as long as Denzel still feels like making them.
