Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) kills a whole bunch of people in Sicily. He then gets shot by a kid - the one person he didn’t anticipate getting into fisticuffs with. He nearly dies. Thankfully, he is found in a near-dead condition by a soft-hearted Italian carabinieri on the Amalfi Coast and brought to his village of Altamonte. A kind doctor fishes the bullet out and McCall stays on in the village, recuperating - and maybe for the first time in his life, enjoying his time in peace and tranquility.

And the premise is set.

The Equalizer 3 follows the same set pieces that we have all come to love and exhilarate in from the first Equalizer movie, bringing about the perfect mix of deathly action and scintillating hunt for street justice. We are back in the world of Robert McCall, an ex-DIA operative, who is on the perpetual hunt for peace, something that has never worked out for him in the past. While the first movie saw him move back into his life of guts and gore out of choice, it seemed that he had since dedicated his life to help the less fortunate that he came across. Not for a fee, not for fame - but because it was something he had made his peace with, that this was who he was. He could help. So he helped.

That’s precisely where the third installment of the Equalizer movie picks up (as we later learn, but presume nevertheless at the beginning). Only this time it’s not about a young prostitute that he is fond of and wants to rescue, it’s not about seeking revenge for the death of his ex-boss and only friend in life, this time he was out doing his thing when he runs into something bigger than himself.

McCall still tries to steer away from trouble. He has no intentions of getting embroiled in the larger conspiracy that is at play at the heart of the movie. He passes the intel he had gathered during his mission to the appropriate authorities, to a CIA officer, Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning), and he settles back. He puts his trusty watch away in his bed-side drawer. There are no more seconds and milliseconds to count for him. He is retired.

But his village is plagued by members of the Camorra, a modern-day mafia. They extort money from local businesses, they beat, they bully - and when payments are delayed, or if the cops get to close to their illicit activities, they cause harm and destruction. This, naturally, doesn’t sit well with McCall and he chooses to do something about it - and he does, in the only way he knows how.

Repercussions follow, more action, and then some more gratuitous action - and it is an absolute bliss to watch Denzel Washington to keep doing the fight, rinse, repeat things that makes the Equalizer movies so fun to watch. That man is an absolute gift to the world, there is never a dull movement when he’s around, his every action is fluid and enchanting, it’s gripping, you root for him like no one’s business - and time and again, he delivers.

Yes, there are other actors in this movie. But it never matters. Because there is Denzel Washington here, playing Robert McCall and that is all that really matters. This is not some chapter in the annuls of great cinema - but it definitely fits into the chasm of what we can call good cinema. And that’s really all that matters in the end.

True, a lot of the movie is in Italian - understandably so, and if you’re not fluent in the language you will need to keep an out of for the subtitles. But by virtue of it being an Equalizer film, you always know what’s happening - and you’re not even sorry about it. It’s most definitely not for everyone, but irrespective of that, at the end of it all you are thoroughly entertained.

Yes, The Equalizer 3 was being spoken of as the last in the Equalizer franchise. And it would most definitely make a lot of sense if they stop making these movies going ahead. Robert McCall has settled down in the small village of Altamonte, as he mentioned it multiple times in the movies, he loves the people and has found peace with them. It would be a perfect setting for him to live out the rest of his life.

But we know that he’s out there. If ever someone needs help, he might just about oblige and give us one more action-packed movie mayhem that we will lap up gleefully. Any which way this goes forward, the cult followers of the Equalizer movies can rest happy and content. Along with Robert McCall.

Watch The Equalizer 3. It’s fun, and it has Denzel Washington.