A still from ‘The Equalizer 3’
From the blood-drenched opening scene in a farmhouse to the misty blue-grey of the closing scenes, The Equalizer 3 is a gorgeous-looking film. Academy Award-winning cinematographer Robert Richardson has given us the loveliest-looking action film in forever.
The Equalizer 3 (English)
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, David Denman, Sonia Ammar, Remo Girone
Run time: 109 minutes
Storyline: A Man comes into a town that is about to be beset by some very nasty men and it is up to the Man to sort it out
The fictional town of Altamonte in Sicily with its steep steps, majestic church perched high above the sea-battered cliffs, the café and town square and also the antiquities-stuffed mansions, vehicles and sharply-cut suits of the wicked, are all bathed in a kind of calamitous magic, like a siren song that draws you in and does not let go.
There is a scene where the bad guys are intimidating a couple. The framing is otherworldly — like a Caravaggio tableau, where the focus is on a trembling man in a wheelchair outside the room where the couple is being threatened. That scene itself is worth the price of the ticket.
However, there is much more fun to be had and many more delights to be sampled. Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) the former Marine and DIA officer who is paying his debts for all the bad things he has done by weighing in with his considerable skills on the side of the weak and the oppressed, heads to a farmhouse in Sicily on a secret mission. He is successful but is also shot.
He is brought to the little town of Altamonte by a local policeman, Gio (Eugenio Mastrandrea), and the town doctor, Enzo (Remo Girone), asks McCall if he is a good or bad man. When McCall says he does not know, Enzo gets the bullet out of his back and helps him on his road to recovery.
McCall finds himself at home in Altamonte, and learns that the town like many others, is under the unrelenting boot of the Mafia. Vincent (Andrea Scarduzio) and his brother Marco (Andrea Dodero) run the town and unfortunately do not take McCall’s advice of moving their business to another place.
McCall tips off government agent Emma (Dakota Fanning) about a drug ring with possible terrorist links bringing down the full weight of the agencies on the operation. The action is fast and furious with a Sholay vibe. When Vincent demands that the townsfolk give up McCall, there is an echo of Gabbar’s threats to the villagers of Ramgarh.
McCall’s third outing is bloody, brutally efficient and oh-so-beautiful!
The Equalizer 3 is currently running in theatres
