The Equalizer 3

Denzel Washington dispatches bad guys with his usual no-nonsense precision in The Equalizer 3, although genre tropes prove a less surmountable obstacle.

This ultraviolent third installment in the vigilante action franchise finds its star back in top form and again deserving of a better screenplay. Changing the setting and rearranging the narrative puzzle pieces isn’t enough to freshen a well-worn concept.

Indeed, the latest collaboration between Washington and director Antoine Fuqua (Training Day) is slick and stylish but not as sophisticated beneath the surface.

The story opens at a grisly murder scene in Sicily, when some gangsters surround an unfazed Robert McCall (Washington), whose calm demeanor masks some violent impulses. “You took something that doesn’t belong to you,” he explains. “I’m here to take it back.”

Such is the modus operandi of McCall, who’s now apparently semiretired, still operating outside any legal jurisdiction, and relocated to the Amalfi Coast, where the exotic locales provide a scenic backdrop for some brutal confrontations.

He becomes immersed in a small village and befriends the locals, including a doctor (Remo Girone) who is his primary confidant. At first, we’re not sure why McCall would bother with a case of drug smugglers operating out of a winery, or why he would involve Emma (Dakota Fanning), an inexperienced CIA agent he beckons out of the blue.

She’s initially skeptical of McCall and his cloudy motives, but realizes she has no choice but to reluctantly form an alliance as the Mafia begins to terrorize the town.

The screenplay by Richard Wenk, who also wrote the first two installments — adapting the 1980s television series — finds McCall still burdened by past trauma, but otherwise the plot connects only loosely to its predecessors.

The film continues to dissect a brooding and introspective antihero who’s not an easy target for sympathy, unafraid to get his hands dirty while dishing out justice his own way. Washington’s understated portrayal leans into McCall’s quirky mannerisms — from his obsessive napkin folding to his perpetual scowl — and deliberate aloofness.

However, the second half features fewer of those effective character-driven segments and turns into a procedural potboiler with nondescript villains. As it funnels toward an inevitable final showdown, The Equalizer 3 generates some mild intrigue yet struggles to raise the emotional stakes.

Rated R, 109 minutes.