I’m sure director Antoine Fuqua did his best to bring the Equalizer franchise to a promising conclusion with The Equalizer 3. And it does have some interesting twists and turns. But the film is far from spellbinding or exhilarating, it has a rushed conclusion, and it falls far short of bringing a monumental closing to the franchise.

The Equalizer 3 begins in Sicily, Italy. Denzel Washington is back in his role as Robert McCall. His new home and setting seem like the calm life he has needed, an atmosphere where the violence and mayhem he’s experienced are behind him. But finding peace and new beginnings takes an unfortunate and not very compelling turn for McCall. The mob shows up, via Vincent Scarduzio (played by Andrea Scarduzio), as well as drug cartels with the disasters that they bring. A CIA operative, Emma Collins (played by Dakota Fanning), is there to help McCall.

Unfortunately, the way the mobsters and drug sellers are introduced to us in The Equalizer 3 is awkward and poorly done. The film seems to care more about Washington’s performance than finding a interesting path through the story. I will say that his performance, and the joint performance of he and Fanning, were invigorating and poetic, and that was definitely the high point. The mob operations and the performances of Fanning and Washington make The Equalizer 3 feel almost like a reunion of Man on Fire (2004), which the both starred in. In that film Washington is assigned to protect Fanning. In The Equalizer 3 they are helping and protecting each other. The chemistry between Fanning and Washington in both films is excellent, but it’s not enough to carry this film.

The Equalizer 3 is relatively quick and sharp in its moments of action, but there are not as many action sequences as the first two films, which had one after another. The Equalizer 3 tries to set a foundation for its central conflict, but the writing is just poor in that regard. The beginning of the film in particular was boring and made me forget about previous events from the first two films. I found myself wondering how long it would be before there was something to grab my attention. The film is just all over the place. Many of the conflicts are presented without context, and the presentation is simply dull.

At one point in The Equalizer 3 McCall says there are “nine seconds to decide your fate”. There are more than nine seconds of entertainment in this film, but the action vibes start slow and steadily decline. My expectations were not set too high for this film, but I had faith that it would surprise me. But having faith did not help with this experience. Two stars out of four for The Equalizer 3.