We Don’t Need ‘The Equalizer 3’ [Trailer]

Denzel Washington and Tony Scott had a special working relationship that was built up and founded with 1995's "Crimson Tide."

Their creative teaming would unearth a slew of successful Denzel/Scott films during the aughts: with 2004's "Man on Fire," 2006's "Deja Vu," 2009''s "The Taking of Pelham  123," and, finally, 2010's "Unstoppable." Scott died in 2012 as he and Tom Cruise were scouting locations for the “Top Gun" sequel. 

All of this to say that Denzel, a guy who was banking on Scott for two decades with his action movies, no longer had that reliable director to work the “blockbuster” genre with. Whether you liked their work or not, it was unique and very much a product with its own creative voice.

Denzel attempted to replace Scott with Antoine Fuqua, a director very much influenced by Scott's kinetic editing style, but their films have misfired.

Fine, Fuqua and Denzel teamed up to bring the actor Oscar glory in 2001 with "Training Day." However, since then, forget about it. They, teamed up for two ‘Equalizer’ movies and failed to hit the right notes with both, then came their misbegotten 2015 remake of "The Magnificent Seven."

And now, here we are, it's 2023, Fuqua and Denzel have decided to unleash "The Equalizer 3," a sequel that, I guess merited to be made in this day and age of Hollywood sequels, prequels and reboots. Given the sequel’s $102 Million domestic gross, on a $60 million budget, might I add, it was a no-brainer decision for this third film to be greenlit. 

Denzel’s Robert McCall, a former CIA black-ops assassin who’s now living in Boston and works as a Lyft driver, is a freelance guardian angel of sorts. The just-released trailer hints at a ‘Man on Fire’ reunion with Dakota Fanning also starring in this sequel.

As for Denzel, well, he’s still a great actor. Always will be. One of the greats. His talents haven’t dwindled in the least bit, but these ‘Equalizer’ movies don’t really have him stretching his chops, he’s just mimicking whatever Keanu Reeves (John Wick) and Liam Neeson (Taken) were doing in their respective assassin films.

In fact, Neeson’s assassin, who has a particular set of skills, has turned out to be one of the most influential movie characters of the last few decades. There’s been a ridiculous amount of ‘Taken’ ripoffs— “John Wick,” “The Accountant,” “The Gray Man,” “Extraction,”“Nobody,” “3 Days to Kill,” “Peppermint,” “Blood Father,” “The Foreigner,” “Columbiana” and these three ‘’Equalizer’ films…