I feel like I’ve lately uncovered a secret underground club of fellow film-lovers who are very much into The Equalizer series, a succession of thrillers now formed into a trilogy with the expert talents of Denzel Washington as lead character Robert McCall (trained government assassin), who returns with Director Antoine Fuqua, plus screenplay writer Richard Wenk, for the third and final time.

If you know these movies, then you’ll know what to expect with The Equalizer 3 and while these have become, in a positive sense, a Denzel vehicle for some dangerous fighting skills and him saving the day against literally all the odds, I’m pleased to say this satisfyingly brings the intensity again – as well as some extra ruthlessness punched right in-between the baddie soft spots.

Taking us to Amalfi Coast, we find McCall being held in the basement of a remote Sicily winery – after an excellent long tracking shot that shows us a selection of dead henchmen, and suggesting he’s the man who took them down. The person arriving on the scene is local crime lord Lorenzo Vitale (Bruno Bilotta) and clearly not a chap to be messed with but… then you shouldn’t mess with McCall either, who’s only there because he needs to level out the bad against the good – and it’s remarkably brutal as he takes down who’s left. But while he succeeds in one aspect (and this isn’t really a spoiler as it’s opening sequence) and is leaving, he’s surprisingly shot in the back by a young family member of the crime family… and is clearly in trouble.

Upon dragging himself away from the winery and away in a spare car, he ends up not only considering whether it’s worth staying alive but is struggling to stay conscious, eventually passing out in his car by the side of the road on the coast. Discovered by local policeman, Gio Bonucci (Eugenio Mastrandrea) who senses this isn’t a normal situation, he ends up taking McCall (who’s barely alive) to his old family doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone) – and this man gradually nurses him back to life.

Robert’s slow recovery has placed him in the small coastal town of Altamonte, where locals get by with an easy life and know each other well but there’s something dark at work underneath, and as McCall gets healthier, he begins to recognise the veil of shadowy characters who seem to be tormenting local residents for their money: there’s a mafia running things and Robert isn’t happy, as he’s grown to love his relaxed new home, so it’s time to start taking back the town for the good of the people.

So, as well as making his own plans, The Equalizer 3 also sees McCall phoning old friends in the CIA, as he’s noticed there’s something even more illicit going on – and it involves drug trading within the guise of the Sicilian winery. His anonymous tip-offs end up with young CIA Agent Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) who begins to investigate from a distance, before also ended up in Sicily to assist – and not that subtly undercover – American style. But this is still a secret alliance that’s formed, and it’s also a crazy reunion in real-life for Washington and Fanning, who originally worked together in Tony Scott’s Man on Fire – nearly 20 years ago – Fanning is respectable as a rookie-type cop but she’s a somewhat secondary to the main event.

While the additional storylines of extra drug dealings, and other plans by the local mafia, are a little weaker on narrative and not very subtle, it’s Denzel at the middle of everything that keeps The Equalizer 3 ticking over. Robert McCall is equally charming, unpredictable and hardcore violent in all its variations; his captivating and very human performance keeps you in the action, as you let the unbelievable become acceptable for an old-fashioned thriller with some genuine surprises and shocks along the way. It’s also got the bonus of stunning Italian scenery (thanks to DOP Robert Richardson) – which lends a slight James Bond-vibe to events, in this amusing modern world of travelling Instagram-able assassins.

So, will this be the last time we see the formidable character on the big screen and how does it end? Well, I’m not telling you here (although it might help if you remember some of what’s come before) but this trilogy-ender offers explosive drama that’s certainly ferocious and, in essence, The Equalizer 3 is a satisfying old-school action thriller escape with Denzel and Fuqua – precisely as you’d hope for.

The Equalizer 3 is out now to own on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD: https://amzn.to/46LrP51