This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
One Lump Or Two?
Plot Overview
First in "The
Equalizer" we met ex-government assassin Robert McCall (Denzel
Washington) who'd been persuaded by his cherished wife to give up
his gruesome occupation. Afterwards she died and then as
a Lyft driver he would run into fellow Bostonians who could use his
help. Later in “The Equalizer 2”
he's traveled further down the road of vigilantism and has now sympathized
with a bricklayer whose entire pension fund was appropriated
by foreign hackers. Currently in “The Equalizer 3”
he has tracked them down to southern Italy, taken care of business,
and is having his wounds tended by country doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo
Girone). He phones in a tip to CIA desk jockey Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) who
subsequently leads a raid on the villa McCall had earlier sanitized
of every man-jack there and from where he'd got his intel.
While recuperating said hairless Negro
frequents a café—he likes tea & spicy food—where
he befriends Carmela (Manuela Tasciotti) a thin, dark-skinned waitress
who jokes about a mismatched dish of spaghetti con carne. By and by,
he gains the trust of the villagers (“They see you as one of
us, now.”) He uses pain compliance to force the Camorra to back off from shaking
them down, unwittingly provoking a fierce mob response.
Ideology
Here arises conflict à
la, (Prov. 30:33) “Surely the
churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing of the nose
bringeth forth blood: so the forcing of wrath bringeth forth
strife.” The idea in the
proverb is that a state of peace and conciliation can change
to one of war just as a liquid (milk) can change to solid (butter)
through constant agitation (churning.) Or hit a critical area (nose)
and it bleeds. The former is illustrated in a fireworks display where
hot streamers expand as they descend through the atmosphere changing from a
plasma state to a whiff of sulfur. The latter is illustrated by a carabanieri trooper whose face
gets bloodied to teach him a lesson.
The
village puts up with mob shenanigans for a long time until suddenly,
with McCall as a catalyst, they can't take it no more and fight back.
Vincent Quaranta (Andrea Scarduzio) has been grooming his younger
brother Marco (Andrea Dodero) to move on from fleecing small potatoes
to a more important land grab and flood of drugs, to be blamed on
jihadis. When bro Marco gets taken out by the equalizer, Vincent descends
on the village with vengeance.
Production Values
“” was directed by Antoine Fuqua. It was based on a weekly television series of the 80's about an ex-CIA agent stealthily helping those in need while punishing the bad guys. It was written by Richard Wenk, Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim. It stars Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning and Eugenio Mastrandrea, along with David Denman, Gaia Scodellaro, Remo Girone, Andrea Scarduzio, and Andrea Dodero. Washington's performance dragged along until a rather impressive finale. His dramatic presence was limited to his actions as his face was obscured by darkness, a downside to putting a darkie in the lead. Home viewing will not improve this situation.
MPAA rated it R for strong bloody violence and some language. This third EQ is worthy of the first two but adds little. Runtime is 1¾ hours.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
There is no clue this takes place in a Catholic country. The festival parade wasn't even religious, unless I'm mistaken. The action treads steps gone in before, with some variation in a female agent getting her feet wet. If you like this sort of thing, you'll enjoy it.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
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