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Despite a mediocre plot, lack of action and flat finale, Denzel Washington’s acting and charisma carry this film enough to make a fairly entertaining installment to the franchise. The plot is the weakest part of this film, as it’s not only cliché, but a lot of it doesn’t really connect until the final act and even then, it’s not quite the big payoff they were aiming for. (Not to mention the whole Equalizer concept is mostly dropped for the standard “stranger saving small town” trope.) Denzel once again shines here, but the film does little to explain who he is or why he does what he does and just hopes you’ve seen the previous films, and with the darker aspects of the character leading things off, it makes it harder to connect with him. Fortunately, Washington is allowed to drop the intensity and allow his charm to shine through. The secondary characters never quite click, from the CIA agents that cross paths with Denzel to the bad guys that have zero redeeming qualities, nobody really gets to be fleshed out. The film drags a bit at times, and there’s really very little action. Aside from a brief sequence at the start, another quick one before the third act and the third act itself, there’s not much to liven things up besides the bad guys beating up hapless townsfolk. While there are some payoffs at the end that toy with being emotional, they feel so far removed from the rest of the film that they just don’t have the impact that they were aiming for.
*** out of *****