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The Equalizer 3 review: A rather predictable but surprisingly sober action thriller

The Denzel Washington thriller does exactly what’s expected from it with added gravitas

September 1, 2023 17:08
Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington stars as Robert McCall in Columbia Pictures THE EQUALIZER 3. Photo by: Stefano Montesi
1 min read

The Equalizer 3
Antoine Fuqua
Cert: 15 | ★★★✩ ✩

Denzel Washington takes on the Sicilian Mafia in this rather predictable, but surprisingly sober action thriller. Reprising his Robert McCall role, Washington is reunited with his Training Day director Antoine Fuqua in this third, and largely expected to be last, instalment in the hugely popular Equalizer film series about an ex assassin turned vigilante. The film also features outstanding performances from former child star Dakota Fanning.

Fuqua is a dab hand at a genre he has perfected over the last two decades. Although very simplistic in its storytelling, there is something slightly more profound about this latest instalment of the franchise.

This in turn had me thinking about the 2017 American superhero film Logan, about an ageing superhero grappling with the idea of death and transition to mortality. Both films feature an almost Shakespeare narrative arc which follows a once unassailable hero who can no longer ignore the ever expanding chink in his armour.

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Film