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ITALIAN JOB
THE EQUALIZER 3 Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua return for the final chapter in their action trilogy…
Reluctant hero Robert McCall first arrived on the big screen in 2014’s The Equalizer, an action thriller loosely based on the 1980s TV series of the same name. Helmed by Training Day’s Antoine Fuqua, the film starred Denzel Washington as the Good Samaritan who doles out justice to a crew of Russian gangsters. But Fuqua hadn’t envisioned this as the beginning of a trilogy. ‘I was just doing one film at a time,’ he says to Teasers. ‘After one I didn’t think about two. After two I certainly didn’t think about three.’
Nearly 10 years after that first film dropped, Fuqua and Washington have reunited, relocating to sunnier climes. McCall’s latest outing finds the former commando sunning himself in coastal Italy. Still, neither sun nor sea have done McCall’s mood any favours. ‘He’s a little darker,’ Fuqua says. ‘He has to find his way back to the light.’ It’s not long before trouble crosses his path, this time in the form of the Italian Mafia. ‘A lot of them are the younger-generation type. They’re a little edgier, a little more aggressive. It feels dangerous because it’s not just drugs and stuff. You’re dealing with terrorists even more now.’
By contrast, this sequel finds director and star in an altogether mellower place. ‘You calm down as you get older,’ Fuqua says. ‘I always compare it to an athlete. The game slows down a little bit; you don’t stress as much about certain things because you know you’re going to get it done.’
And talking of getting it done… what is it about McCall that continues to appeal to audiences? ‘He’s not fancy, he’s not slick,’ explains Fuqua. ‘He doesn’t need everyone to know that he’s done something or not. What I love the most about him is that he’s humble. That’s Denzel doing what he does – creating that three-dimensional character.’ And for the director, it’s character that comes first. ‘As I’m maturing and growing up, it’s more… what is the action telling me about the character? I put more focus on that than spectacle,’ he says.
‘What I love most about [McCall] is that he’s humble’
ANTOINE FUQUA
This latest collaboration between director and star marks a screen partnership that goes back to 2001’s Training Day (‘It’s evolved, but it’s the same… It’s a trust and a respect that we have for each other,’ says Fuqua.) But will this be the end of the road? It seems so, at least as far as Equalizer movies go.
‘I don’t see another one in it for me,’ says the filmmaker with an air of finality. ‘From my conversations with Denzel, this is the final one [for him] as well.’ Well, who can blame them? After so long, Robert McCall should be allowed his retirement.
THE EQUALIZER 3 OPENS IN CINEMAS ON 1 SEPTEMBER.