I don't usually bother with money spinning third instalments but hey, movie pickings are slim and it's Denzel and Dakota reuniting some 20 years after the excellent 'Man on Fire'. Wish i hadn't bothered tbh, this Equalizer bookend mostly fires blanks.
Of course Denzel is as brilliant as ever in the starring role, the all-Italian scenery is stunning and the (albeit) few and far between action scenes are well executed (and graphic), but that's about all. The story itself is slow, talky and lacking in genuine thrills, spills and intensity. The screenplay is cliched, uneventful and wholly predictable (Italy>crime>mafia>retribution - yawn) but most annoying is that literally half the film is in subtitled Italian dialogue, which is way ott and detracts from the overall viewing experience. I found myself fast forwarding after a while as the lacklustre proceedings dragged on like an extended audience with the Pope.
Yep, all in all it's a disappointing one-watch end to the trilogy that's for completists and Denzel afficinados only. Back to the three Godfather classics it is then... Arrivederci Mr Washington.
Of course Denzel is as brilliant as ever in the starring role, the all-Italian scenery is stunning and the (albeit) few and far between action scenes are well executed (and graphic), but that's about all. The story itself is slow, talky and lacking in genuine thrills, spills and intensity. The screenplay is cliched, uneventful and wholly predictable (Italy>crime>mafia>retribution - yawn) but most annoying is that literally half the film is in subtitled Italian dialogue, which is way ott and detracts from the overall viewing experience. I found myself fast forwarding after a while as the lacklustre proceedings dragged on like an extended audience with the Pope.
Yep, all in all it's a disappointing one-watch end to the trilogy that's for completists and Denzel afficinados only. Back to the three Godfather classics it is then... Arrivederci Mr Washington.