Director Antoine Fuqua and star Denzel Washington are returning to our theaters for another installment of The Equalizer, the action franchise that launched its first chapter on the big screen in 2014. Adapted from the 1980s television series, The Equalizer was a big hit upon its release, followed by a sequel in 2018, which was also commercially successful.
To set the stage for the 3rd film, here's a recap of the first two chapters of The Equalizer.
THE EQUALIZER (2014)
The 2014 film introduced us to the quiet and skilled vigilante Robert McCall as a methodical man who helps everyone around him without always needing credit. In it, he works at a hardware store (setting the stage for a beautiful gang takedown in the 3rd act) and embarks on a mission against a prostitution ring to help young Teri, played by Chloe Grace Moretz, whom he coincidentally meets almost every night at a diner where he enjoys his tea and reads his book.
While infiltrating the Russian mafia, McCall also spends time exposing a pair of corrupt cops who were blackmailing his friend and coworker's mother. He also stops an armed robbery at the hardware store. While The Equalizer's focus is squarely on the action and the delightful skills of Robert McCall, it's worth noting that halfway through, the vigilante meets up with two old acquaintances - Susan (Melissa Leo) and Brian Plummer (Bill Pullman), revealing he's a former agent of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). Not only that, McCall had faked his death in a bombing years prior.
With intel from Susan, Robert goes on a revenge mission that kills many, dismantles the prostitution ring, and saves young Teri (whose real name was Alina). By the end, a rejuvenated Chloe Grace Moretz never knew who saved her life or left an envelope with $10,000 in her apartment, but she tells her friend Robert she's pursuing a singing career. Content with his mission's success, McCall posts online ads offering his protective services.
The 2014 Equalizer had a budget of about $65 million and grossed $192 million worldwide. Two years later, Fuqua confirmed his return for an already greenlit sequel, with Washington reprising his role.
THE EQUALIZER 2 (2018)
In 2018, Washington was back as the vigilante in the sequel that introduced another friend from his DIA days - Pedro Pascal, playing Dave York. The Equalizer 2 opens with several subplots: McCall works as a rideshare driver, helping elderly Holocaust survivors, and girls abused by rich brats, and rescuing kidnapped kids taken to Turkey - all while encouraging the artistic pursuits of a young neighbor.
However, the main plot only begins when Susan, Melissa Leo's character and Robert's former colleague from the Agency, asks for his help investigating a suspicious agent suicide in Brussels, a case she's working on alongside Dave York (Pascal). But, twist: while inspecting the crime scene, Susan is attacked by two men and killed in her hotel room. Naturally, Robert vows to find those responsible and avenge her death.
Washington's character is then attacked by a passenger during one of his rides. With his keen skills, he overcomes the hitman, then steals his phone and discovers (through never-before-seen hacker skills in action films or series) that this hitman was an associate of York's. McCall confronts his former colleague and learns that many ex-agents have turned mercenaries and that they killed Susan to prevent her from identifying the culprits behind the Brussels murder.
The third act involves Robert McCall versus five mercenaries in an evacuated town near Boston, where Robert used to live. In the backdrop of a massive storm, McCall faces and, of course, defeats his foes one by one. The movie ends happily for the artistic neighbor, a reunion of the elderly Holocaust survivor with his also-surviving sister, and Robert in his old home, gazing at a calm sea.
Given its numerous somewhat odd subplots, The Equalizer 2 wasn't as critically acclaimed as the first movie but still grossed $190 million on a $62 million budget.
The Equalizer 3 sees the return of Antoine Fuqua and Denzel Washington and will also feature Dakota Fanning. The film is set to release on August 31.
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