The Equalizer 3 - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

The Equalizer 3



Movie:
4K Video:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score:



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Movie
Antoine Fuqua is back along with Denzel, and that means that we’re getting the 3rd of his (so far), Equalizer Trilogy. I was a HUUUUGE fan of 2014’s The Equalizer. It was one of those “perfect action movies” that came out along the same time period of John Wick, basically breathing life into a dying genre that was being supplanted by constant superhero movies (ohhh, how I wish we could go back to those days when we though 2014 was “glutted” with Super hero films. Poor naive us) and put Denzel back on the map again as Robert McCall, the ex CIA agent freelancing in order to help those who need it. The second movie was a bit of a drop, with McCall having retired AGAIN, this time just living life as a Lyft driver until he’s drawn back into his old job of delivering retribution to kick some bad guy butt.

I thought that The Equalizer films were dead back in 2018 as the sequel to Antoine Fuqua’s gold strike was not nearly as good, and not nearly as successful at the box office. But, here we are some 5 years later with a 3rd sequel that keeps some of the same elements of the first couple of movies, but makes it much more intimate and contained than the action extravaganzas that came before it.

McCall (Denzel Washington) is back in a much different tale than his previous two films. In the past he was a retired CIA agent who came out of retirement to help the downtrodden and basically star as a one man action hero. Here, McCall is tired, worn down, and ready to let it all go. On a mission in Sicily, he gets shot in the back and crippled partially, having to walk with a cane and stumble everywhere he goes. Setting up camp in Southern Italy, he starts to see the simple life as something he really wants to be a part of. However, the local Italian Mafia are terrorizing the locals with the typical schemes of extortion, bribery and general mayhem.

Not wanting to get involved, McCall stands outside the lines, watching until the people around him TRULY start suffering. Unable to stay out of the picture and live his life in peace, McCall pulls out all the stops and targets the local mafia drug lord and makes sure that he will NEVER bother the locals again.

The Equalizer 3 acts as a late stage Death Wish movie rather than the explosive action of the previous two films. In fact, there’s almost no action for the first 50-55 minutes of runtime as Robert McCall gets used to the quiet life, only to watch it not be so quiet when the innocent villagers around him are getting bullied. Also, it’s less full bore action, and a much more brutal and violent revenge thriller as well. Gone are the slow motion action shots of him shooting a nail gun in a warehouse, and instead we watch an older, wiser, and much more off McCall systematically hunt and torture the people who are destroying the lives of the innocent.

I’m not sure that I like it nearly as much as The Equalizer, but The Equalizer 3 is a decent step up over the generic feeling Equalizer 2. It’s not as action oriented, but it features some NASTY kills from McCall, and works as a slow burn thriller until the final 25 minutes of runtime. Yeah, Robert McCall is basically a super hero by now, but I really don’t mind. It’s fun to see Denzel lay waste. My only real problem with the film (and this is an irritating one) is that Denzel doesn’t really seem to be putting his heart and soul into the project. He’s aged a lot in the last 5 years, and doesn’t really look the part anymore (He’s gotten into that Steven Segal stage where he’s wearing baggy shirts to hide the weight gain) and he over acts quite a bit here. It’s like he’s trying to remember his character at times, and other times he just slips effortlessly into the roll. At the end of the day it’s not the end of the world, but it makes the 3rd film feel a little cheap and “what could have been”. But on the flip side it features a more brutal and violent plot that deviates from just your standard action movie, giving it a boost over the mediocre second film.




Rating:

Rated R for strong bloody violence and some language.




4K Video: Video:

The Equalizer 3 comes to 4K UHD with a great looking, if not heavily stylized, transfer that takes some getting used to. The film is very heavily graded towards the brown and gray stone end of the spectrum, with a very bleak and desaturated look to it. White levels can look a tad pasty at times, but the blacks are simply paramount to the enjoyment of this image. There are some splashes of primary color (blood, green of foliage, or the light blue of the Sicilian beaches), but otherwise this is a grim and very VERY brown affair. That being said, the 4K UHD is definitely better than the Blu-ray in many ways. As good as the Blu-ray is, it is MUCH brighter than the Dolby Vision enhanced 4K disc, and while that may seem appealing on the surface, or in some scenes, it does NOT have the same level of detail that the 4K disc has. The 2160p image may be dimmer, but the skin tones look more natural, you can see a lot more background details, and when A/Bing the two discs the bright 1080p disc seems to wash out faces and turn pasty white due to the brown color grading. Contrast is just as muted as the colors are, giving this one of the grimmest looks to a film I’ve ever seen while maintaining great detail levels at all times.








Audio:

Sony continues to give the 4K UHD discs a boost with an Atmos track over the 5.1 track found on the Blu-ray, and it’s a near reference disc for sure. The audio track is delightfully robust and agile, darting from one corner of the room to the other with the sounds of the Italian village. The dialog centric first half is clean and simple, with great vocals locked up front. But when the action kicks off the bass and the surrounds literally come ALIVE with an amazingly intense dynamic range. Gunshots are sharp and powerful, with the score adding a nice heavy layer of low frequency emissions over the listening space. It may not thrive on being Mission Impossible explosive, but The Equalizer 3’s sound design is simply impeccable. It is well rounded, can kick into high gear when needed, but also revels and indulges in the simple discrete sounds of living in an Italian village as its highlights.












Extras:

• Deleted scenes
• Blood Brothers: The collaboration of Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua
• Call to Action
• Robert McCall: A Man of the People
• Denzel and Dakota: A Reunion
• Postcards from the Amalfi Coast
• Jacob Banks' "Monster" Music Video

Final Score: ​

If you’re into The Equalizer series, then the 4K UHD is definitely the way to go. It has all of the extras of the Blu-ray edition, but also some killer audio and video upgrades that are definitely worth it for the demo quality alone. This third sequel very well may be the last, as Denzel has reported not being that into playing McCall for a 4th time, but I generally enjoyed this sequel. The first film will always be my favorite as an all time classic, but the 3rd entry adds some nuance with a different take on the narrative structure, and the 4K UHD disc looks and sounds spectacular.


Technical Specifications:

Starring: Denzel Washington, Dakota Fanning, Eugenio Mastrandrea, David Denman, Gaja Scodellaro, Remo Girone
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Written by: Richard Wenk, MIchael Sloan, Richard Lindheim
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: Dolby Digital Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French (Canadian), Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Runtime: 109 minutes
Blu-Ray Release Date: October 14th, 2023

Recommendation: Fun Watch

 

[Epoxy1]

I liked this one quite a bit. Nice review Michael.

 

[Sonnie]

I wouldn't want to make him mad at me... that is for sure.

Thanks for the review Mike... enjoyed the movie.