When we last saw Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) in "The Equalizer 2," he had just taken down members of his own CIA paramilitary group and moved to his old family house next to the ocean. He had already beaten up some Wall Street punks, tracked down artwork stolen by the Nazis and rescued children taken hostage.
In the newest installment of “The Equalizer” series, McCall has moved to Southern Italy to escape his own past once again. He's finally settled down in a place he loves, only to find that it's terrorized by the Sicilian Mafia. In true McCall fashion, he gives the mafia one last chance to do the right thing.
You can pretty much guess what happens next.
We don't know a lot about McCall or his past. We know he was a gunnery sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps before he was recruited into the Defense Intelligence Agency. He worked as a DIA operative for seven years before faking his death to live with his future wife. When she died, he stayed in retirement.
In 2014's "The Equalizer," he came out of retirement to help a teenage friend escape her ties to a Russian mobster, destroying the entire gang in the process. He even went to Russia to ensure the mob couldn't restart its American operations.
"The Equalizer 2" was Washington's first-ever sequel. McCall made it his life's work to help those who couldn't help themselves until his friends from the DIA were hunted by members of his former unit. In this third movie, what producers call the last in the series, McCall was really trying to stay retired.
Director Antoine Fuqua's film series is based on the 1985-1989 CBS television series of the same name. Starring Edward Woodward as McCall, people in need found the Equalizer through a newspaper ad in New York City that read: "Got a problem? Odds against you?" Denzel Washington's McCall used the same ad in the second film, only his ad was posted to Craigslist.
The new movie reunites Washington with Fuqua. Aside from "The Equalizer" series, the two have also collaborated in 2001's "Training Day" and the 2016 remake of "The Magnificent Seven." It also reunites Washington and actress Dakota Fanning, who starred in the 2004 action thriller "Man on Fire."
"The Equalizer 3" will be released in theaters in September 2023.
-- Blake Stilwell can be reached at blake.stilwell@military.com. He can also be found on Twitter @blakestilwell or on LinkedIn.
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