The Equalizer 3 Parent Guide

Never one to settle down, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has found himself in a new spot of trouble. He’s just completed a successful, albeit gory, job in Sicily, but during his escape he was shot in the back. Now he’s recovering in the charming Italian town of Altamonte, with the help of a local carabinieri, Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea), and a doctor, Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone).

As Robert settles into the rhythm of Altamonte, he realizes that he can’t leave danger behind. The Camorra crime organization has set its sights on Altamonte as an ideal spot for some very large hotels and tourist traps – a plan which involves pushing out the locals through violence and arson. He might be new to Altamonte, but Robert intends to fight for the town that took him in. While he’s trying to take down one of the most violent criminal organizations in Italy, the CIA is looking into his handiwork back in Sicily – and a relatively junior officer named Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) plans to take down an even bigger operation.

I’m having an increasingly hard time buying into some of the action movies I’ve seen lately. Look, I love Denzel Washington, but the man is 68 years old. The gig is not all that convincing anymore (and that goes for Liam Neeson too, by the way). Thankfully, the film isn’t trying to be John Wick (starring relative spring-chicken Keanu Reeves, age 58) and it’s not a non-stop stunt extravaganza. Like ageing athletes, there seems to be some recognition that Denzel just isn’t going to be the fastest or the strongest, and he mostly handles things by being slow, sneaky, and quiet.

The Restricted rating on this film isn’t kidding around – it’s really gory. I’ve never seen a person shove the barrel of a revolver into someone’s eye and then shoot somebody else through the guy’s head. That’s a new one, and despite some kudos for creativity, I don’t think it’s one you’re going to want to watch with grandma. Non-stop, bloody violence is definitely the biggest concern here, but there’s also a smattering of profanity to spread the fun around.

Content notwithstanding, I was surprised by this movie. Despite the fact that the movie’s action scenes are spread out, it spends most of the runtime fleshing out McCall’s new community, thereby strengthening his character’s motivations. The movie seems to be angling for a more emotionally intense revenge flick, so that when our titular terminator gets going, you’re really rooting for him. I’ll take emotionally coherent storytelling over big action set pieces any day. Even if it comes with lots of blood. Your mileage may differ, and if you’re sensitive to violence, you should stay far away. But genre fans could go for a ride on this escape vehicle.