Ask no questions and you’ll find The Equalizer 3 to be a cracking action movie

Film review: The Equalizer 3

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, Gaia Scodellaro and Sonia Ben Ammar

Director: Antoine Fuqua Run time: One hour, 49 minutes

When settling down to watch this type of action movie you have to do a kind of deal with yourself, along the lines of: “Don’t question anything, go with the flow, sit back and enjoy.”

If you can do that it stops you from querying the reality of a 68-year-old man taking on a crime gang single-handed, being hit on by a beautiful woman 30 years his junior when all he was doing was drinking a cup of tea, and having a whole load of weapons available to him even though he is meant to be slipping into retirement.

Once you can park these unrealities, what you’re left with is a cracking action film with a decent plot and a satisfying ending, all backed up by a modern, thrilling music score and Denzel Washington at his laconic best.

The story sees retired US Marine and DIA operative Robert McCall (Washington) recuperating in the remote coastal Italian village of Atlamonte after being shot by the son of Lorenzo Vitale after a raid in which he killed the crime enforcer and his henchmen in order to recover money stolen in a cyber-heist.

While recovering in Atlamonte, McCall gets acquainted with the locals, including a waitress named Aminah and becomes fond of the town and its people. However, members of the Camorra criminal organization harass and kill villagers in an attempt to coerce them out of their housing and take over the neighbourhood for commercialization purposes.

The ensuing war between McCall and the crime gang plays out well, if not a bit colour-by-numbers. It’s not the first film to show an intelligent crime boss (Vincent Quaranta, played by Andrea Scarduzio) hindered by a wayward violent younger brother (Marco played by Andrea Dodero). And did the scene where the gang threaten the local police chief’s wife Chiara (Benn Amar) really have to show in her knickers?

The ending was a little weak and rather twee too, when we finally find out why McCall was recovering the money and for whom. But all in all, it was a decent two hours of cinema.

Rating 7/10

By Jeremy Ransome