The Equalizer 3 (2023)
Justice knows no borders.
Time to finish the trilogy. End the fight. Witness the finale. Some other way of saying it’s the third movie of the series and we finally got to the point where we are going to watch it. He’s back, he’s still in his ways, and we are all totally down for the ride. Hope the right Lyft picks you up - tonight is The Equalizer 3.
You’ve seen them one, you know what to expect from them all. The good thing about this franchise is that although the supporting characters might change, or the locations, or even the events playing out - at it’s core you know what to expect from the character, and he behaves in ways that are believable to that character. This time around, we find our main over in Italy, once again retrieving something from a bad man that doesn’t belong to them. We aren’t sure entirely what at the moment, but it has quite the body count attached, and our hero even manages to catch a small round to the back that jump starts the main story here. Wakes up in a nice little town, and grows to like the people and their ways - only for some crime nob-heads to come knocking and uprooting the peace. Throw in some CIA international investigations and one man trying to do good and behave himself, and you’ve got another fine balancing act of violence and good morals.
Actors do good here. Yes, there’s a lot of Italian going around, and I don’t speak it - but general expressions and body language go a good way here, and the english parts come out with a little bit of charm. It’s all pretty good in here, with our main still keeping up with all the characters little ticks as well. I’m sure some acting might not be quite as impressive as others, but the movie is condensed enough and filled with good enough jobs that you don’t really ever feel like it’s jumping out as anything more than fine or at the very worst intended. It honestly feels a bit more animated this time around - maybe perhaps due to the main’s injury recovery and his working up from it helps to sell efficiency and the cheerfulness of the town brings out that bit of happiness that you don’t always get.
Characters are here, although not all of them are treated equally. We get enough from the baddies to have a feel for who or what they are - which largely this time around feels a bit more generic gangster than the last time’s professional high-stakers. Our main gets to approach that ending of his arc, where it feels like he might be able to find peace and be happy after everything he’s been through without actually feeling like he’s changed too much at the same time. Our CIA character get’s some nice little progressions in there, although as a whole nothing is as in depth as it probably could be as far as character growth in comparison to characters just feeling like they’ve been given enough thought without padding things out too much.
When the good guy looks like an end boss.
Action here is good as usual. One could make the argument that it’s a bit more brutal than previous, and I feel like they wouldn’t be wrong. It’s not overly graphic like some of the kills at the end of the first, but it is still pretty hardcore with some body parts coming off now and then. Most of the action is off-screen at the start, but it gets back to more normal levels of display after a brief first person moment - which is another addition over the previous ones. It’s an interesting little twist, although it can feel a bit weird especially for the one shot where it cuts to third person real quick before going back into first. Overall, the scenes are shot nicely, and although it might not add too much, it does feel far more - let’s call it efficient this time around. Our main goes from just being this brutal assassin type to a straight up slasher villain in this one - I’m pretty sure even if you ran full speed from him while he was slightly hobbled from his injury he’d still teleport in front of you somehow.
Costumes are what they are - it pulls off the modern day look convincingly. If it’s supposed to be a mobster, they look a bit like a mobster, or a cop like a cop and so forth. I had a chuckle at one point because the lead had one arm behind his back and looked one long goatee away from being some ancient kung fu master from those old Chinese (probably not really appropriate in this modern age) martial arts movies I watch from time to time. In a way it’d be sort of fitting with how often our lead tries to teach people things. The scenery is pretty great, especially in those wides, although a good deal of it could probably still just be pitched as town/city to see with that nice coastal flair. Either way it does make for some good shots and stills, while the rest of the movie ends up feeling just as real and modern as intended without being too distracting from the characters and the overall mood it’s trying to build.
Thinking man I am - but not usually in the sense of analytically picking apart movies. Nothing changed here, but you do still get that classic good and bad, doing what’s right shtick that’ s a thru-line across this franchise. There generally feels like there’s an internal conflict about what he should do, all the while with him knowing exactly how it’s going to play out. Like the movie points out a few times - sometimes you are right where you need to be, and that carries with it the weight of miracles, fate, and coincidence that plenty of folks have spent pages upon pages writing about. Honestly, just about the only thing missing from this one is our lead working on a reading list - but I guess that ties into the journey of the character as he gets to the point where he can embrace all those things his wife probably would have wanted for him in the beginning anyways.
Scenic Italy being scenic and giving me a heart attack every time i see the number of stairs.
It’s a good movie. I enjoy it - the entire thing works quite well. The flow of it, the setting, the casting, it all plays into the story they want to tell. By the time you get to the end, you’ve pretty much forgotten about why the movie started anyways, and by the time it decides to hook you in with the wrapping things up you were already invested regardless. It’s got some surprising action that can be violent without being overly grotesque, it’s got an actor that does great with the character, and it’s got some good supporting scenes and actors to help it carry what can at times have moments of cliched story elements and make them feel enjoyable still. There’s even a new theme that keeps cropping up in the soundtrack that’s pretty gnarly as well. Overall, quite a good way to wrap up this series of movies.