‘The Equalizer 3’

Violent and bloody, The Equalizer 3 continues to see ex-DIA special ops Robert McCall right wrongs, following the money trail of one of his Boston taxi passengers being defrauded of his life savings.

A vineyard in Sicily is littered with dead bodies, millions of Euros and vast quantities of Fenethylline, McCall (Denzel Washington) leaving his calling card from the off. But shot in the process, he escapes to the Italian mainland where he’s helped, no questions asked, by local doctor Enzo Arisio (Remo Girone) in the coastal village of Altamonte. Slowly recuperating, McCall puts an anonymous call into CIA agent Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning), tipping her off about Sicily. But the idyll of the Amalfi coast is soon tested as the Naples-based Vincent Quaranta (Andrea Scarduzio), head of the local Camorra, looks to commercial development along the coast, forcing locals out of town. But McCall is not the man to sit idly by as gangs of henchmen terrorise the town.

Moral justice is dished out by the bucketload as McCall looks to support the town he’s been made to feel so welcome. As with previous storylines, it’s bloody and it’s violent – but, the final film in the trilogy, it’s also full of style, energy and, in the relationships within the town, a warm humanity.

Rating: 68%

Director: Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, Emancipation)

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Mechanic)

Main cast: Denzel Washington (The Equalizer, Fences), Dakota Fanning (Ocean’s Eight, American Pastoral), Gaia Scodellaro (State of Consciousness, Promises)

The Equalizer

The Equalizer 2

‘Slow Horses’ (Season 3)

The odious Home Secretary continues with his own political aspirations to privatise elements of the British secret service – and sets in motion a series of events that threaten the security of the country along with rekindling internal animosities within the service itself.

The death of a British operative in Istanbul a few years earlier is central to season three of the excellent Slow Horses. The slovenly Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman) continues to berate his team of MI5 losers but the kidnapping of office manager Standish (Saskia Reeves) forces him into a degree of prior unseen action. Naturally, it involves ‘The Park’ and deputy head of the department Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) – only more prevalent this time round is the tension between Taverner and her boss, Ingrid Tearney (Sophie Okonedo). And then there’s River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), so tightly wound to claw his way out of Slough House that he’s an easy target to jump to false conclusions and risk everyone around him to save the day. He finds himself in direct confrontation with Head of Security, the bullyboy Duffy (Chris Reilly) and his team. Still smarting from season two, The Dogs get nasty.

It’s a pretty straight forward narrative of secret documents that cannot be allowed to come to light and various interests involved to find or destroy said secrets. With the archives now located in a bunker outside of London, it’s about who can get to them first – and find them among years of pre-digitised records.

As with season two, Slow Horses has settled into more ‘traditional’ spy storylines. Unlike that season, however, the engaging plotline is dominant. Whilst important, the relationships between the various colleagues become secondary. They are still beautifully crafted and more screen time given to the ‘losers’ such as a still-grieving Louise Guy (Rosalind Eleazer). And however results are achieved, it’s only too apparent that The Park still needs the Slough House team even if there’s a reluctance to admit to it. And that, of course, will lead its legions of fans into season four.

Rating: 79%

’Shazam!: Fury of the Gods’

And so the saga of teenager Billy and his transformation into a man-child superhero on the utterance of Shazam! continues.

Somewhat better equipped to cope with his powers than in the first instalment, Billy (Asher Angel) and mates at the orphange need to be at the top of their game when vengeful ancient gods arrive on Earth in search of the magic stolen from them centuries earlier. As the fate of the world rests in his hands, so Billy’s switching between himself and Shazam (Zachary Levi) has to be pitch perfect – especially as warring sisters Hespera (Helen Mirren) and Kalypso (Lucy Liu) will exploit any weakness to get what they want. But then the unexpected happens.

Witty repartee continues to fly but sadly, whilst Shazam!: Fury of the Gods retains a level of its entertainment value, it sadly slips into the more predictable big budget superhero template, losing some of its charm in the process.

Rating: 55%

Director: David F. Sandberg (Shazam!, Annabelle: Creation)

Writer: Henry Gayden (Shazam!, Earth to Echo), Chris Morgan (The Fast & Furious: Tokyo Drift, Cellular)

Main cast: Zachary Levi (Shazam!, Thor: Ragnarok), Asher Angel (Shazam!, On Fire), Helen Mirren (RED, The Queen)

‘The Equalizer 2’

As a sequel, this Denzel Washington/Antoine Fuqua/Richard Wenk collaboration may not reach the heights of the first Robert McCall-thriller, but it remains an enormously entertaining badass revenge tale.

A new Boston home, a new job as a taxi driver, Robert McCall (Washington) continues to live quietly observing life around him. But with information fed to him by former CIA boss Susan Plummer (Melissa Leo), he still rights a few wrongs. But when she is killed in a Paris hotel, grieving over the loss of his friend, McCall looks to revenge her murder.

The storytelling may be more confident than the first but it unspools somewhat predictably (including the mentoring of young aimless neighbour, Ashton Sanders) but the final thirty minutes in an evacuated stormlashed Massachussets coastal town is an engrossing choregraphy of violence, movement and unexpected visual quietude.

Rating: 62%

Director: Antoine Fuqua (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven)

Writer: Richard Wenk (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven) – based on the TV series

Main cast: Denzel Washington (The Equalizer, The Magnificent Seven), Pedro Pascal (The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent, TV’s The Last Of Us), Ashton Sanders (Moonlight, I Wanna Dance With Somebody)

‘Reacher’ (Season 2)

Sadly, all the charm and what was an an intelligent adaptation of novelist Lee Child’s introduction to (Jack) Reacher in season one is lost in this unlinked, mundane run-of-the-mill follow up.

Reacher (Alan Ritchson), a 6’4″ beefcake in season one is even bigger this time round and, ever a loner, finds himself contacted by Frances Neagley (Maria Sten), a corporate security professional who served under Reacher in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit. Seems that the personnel from their unit are being picked off one by one, with only four of them left and one, Tony Swan (Shannon Kook), missing. Those that are dead were employed by Swan on contract with New Age, a private defence contractor with Shane Langston (Robert Patrick), a former NYPD detective, head of their security.

Adapted from Child’s Bad Luck & Trouble, season two of Reacher is standard television fare of Reacher and who’s left of his former colleagues reassembled to revenge the deaths of the other unit members. Corporate malfeaseance and corruption is unsurprisingly at the core of season two as the illegal sale of new advances in technological weaponry is due to be sold off to the highest bidder (British middle man and ruthless killer Ferdinand Kingsley). No-one is to stand in the way of the purchase. Except, that is, Reacher and team, which includes old flame Karla Dixon (Serinda Swan), now a a forensic accountant in corporate risk management. The fourth and final member is lawyer David O’Donnell (Shaun Sipos), former wiseguy now married with kids.

Interspersed with what turns out to be a straightforward tracking down of the badguys with plenty of shootouts along the way is nostalgic moments from the days of the 110th Special Investigations Unit, highlighting the bonds that had developed and the background for the determinations for revenge.

Standard fare for its eight episodes. Disappointing after the quirky appeal of season one.

Rating: 50%

’The Tourist’ (Season 2)

Season 2 switches to Ireland from the Australian outback as Elliot decides, with the encouragement of girlfriend Helen, to discover his true identity. Naturally enough, they walk into a whole heap of trouble.

Elliot (Jamie Dornan) is content to continue travelling with former police constable Helen Chambers (Danielle Macdonald) who had been so supportive during his search to find his identity in the black comedy that was season one. Helen decides Elliot should find out more about his true self and they set off to Ireland – with Elliot kidnapped on their first day on the soil of the Emerald Isle.

Turns out Elliot is a member of the Cassidy family and he’s walked straight back into the family feud with the McDonnells he tried to escape from. Only Elliot has no memory – not of his mother Niamh (Olwen Fouéré), Frank McDonnell (Francis Magee) nor nemesis Donal McDonnell (Diarmaid Murtagh).
Not to be outdone, Helen finds herself captive by the dodgy Garda detective, Ruairi Slater (Conor MacNeill), assigned to the case and is been stalked by former partner Ethan (Greg Larsen). He’s seen the light and is a reformed man.

If it sounds complicated, it’s not. Over the six episodes, it becomes clearer as who Elliot is and why he left (no explanation for memory loss though) as the reasons for the family feuds become clearer. Unlike season one, however, there’s little in the way of suspense or that wry, entertaining mismatch of characters and plot lines. It’s all too dull and predictable – with absolutely no reason for the reintroduction of the tedious Ethan. He was the weak link in season one so bring him back for more tedious pedantry?

Rating: 35%

‘John Wick – Chapter 2’

The once retired assassin discovers a bounty has been placed on his head. Cue an, arguably, more violent narrative than John Wick, the first in the series.

Wiping out the Tarasov gang may have provided John Wick (Keanu Reeves) with a sense of revenge and personal justice – but by returning to the world of high-stake assassins, he has a debt to pay. Forced to travel to Rome for Italian crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), the legendary Wick clears his debt but soon finds himself the target of every killer in the business.

It’s brutal, it’s bloody, it’s incessant as assassin after assassin confronts Wick. Subtle it’s not from director Chad Stahelski but, inexplicably, there’s a strong sense of humanity in Reeves’ portrayal.

Rating: 52%

Director: Chad Stahelski (John Wick 1-4)

Writer: Derek Kolstad (John Wick 1-4, Nobody)

Main cast: Keanu Reeves (John Wick 1-4, 47 Ronin), Riccardo Scamarcio (Loro, Loose Cannons), Ian McShane (John Wick 1-4, Sexy Beast)

’The Morning Show’ (Season 3)

And so to season three of the high quality American newsroom-based series with more than a threat to the independence of the delivery of that news.

The If it works, why fix it? approach is very much in evidence with season three as network CEO Cory Ellison (Billy Crudup) continues to manipulate and power broke behind the scenes whilst the internecine struggles on the floors below continue with Alex Levy (Jennifer Aniston) and Bradley Jackson (Reese Witherspoon) centre stage. Only there are significant changes with Witherspoon, in terms of screen time if not impact of storyline, less apparent. And then there’s the high level fallout from the leak of all the personal data highlighting the racial division and discrimination at UBA to deal with.

As well as the reveal in variations in salary packages, one immediate outcome is the profiling of the affair between Jackson and Laura Peterson (Julianna Marguiles), Levy’s temporary replacement in season two. It’s this that results in less screen time for Witherspoon, the two women chosing to slip away to Montana and keep a low profile. But work is never far away and the two are compromised by family issues and the White House riot seriously impacting on Jackson’s professionalism – brother Hal (Joe Tippett) having been filmed by Jackson herself assaulting a security officer.

Back in New York, Ellison needs a huge injection of cash to prevent bankruptcy – and billionaire entrepreneur Paul Marks (Jon Hamm) is the target as a possible buyout from Cybil Richards (Holland Taylor) and the less than enthusiastic board. Cue a hugely reluctant Alex Levy as the star name to travel to Texas and generally charm Marks. It’s the main season three plotline that ebbs and flows throughout the 10 episodes as that suspicion of each other gradually gives way to something more personal. Levy sees it as her opportunity to get a place on the board whilst there’s plenty of power games being played out: Ellison’s position is not helped by the mutual dislike between him and Marks and his animosity with the board, Leonard Cromwell (Stephen Fry) in particular.

But The Morning Show interweaves personal and professional stories of other members of the team – with the cool and sassy Stella Bak (Greta Lee), president of UBA’s news division, carrying baggage from her knowledge of Marks. To divulge or take the billions of dollars is no easy decision, particularly when there are thousands of jobs at stake. One of those jobs is producer of Levy’s program, Mia Jordan (Karen Pittman), who, ever present in the three seasons, is given more of her own story – a professional woman who has given up affairs of the heart to focus on her career. News photographer Andre Ford (Clive Standen) is her secret lover but Mia has just sent him into a highly dangerous job in the Ukraine.

It’s the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the White House riots and the overturning of the Roe vs. Wade abortion laws that form the (real) news behind the scenes, providing much needed grounding for what is a superior but wholly engrossing soap opera melodrama. Bring on season 4.

Rating: 68%

‘Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal’ (Season 2)

Season one investigated the social position of the Murdaugh family in Hampton, South Carolina that contributed to a litany of unexplained or whitewashed criminal activities. The Murdaughs were a current day dynasty that believed itself to be above the law. Until, that is, the coldblooded murder of matriarch Maggie Murdaugh and youngest son, Paul. Husband and father Alex Murdaugh was charged with their murder and, during the making of season one of Murdaugh Murders: a Southern Scandal was awaiting trial.

Unlike season one which explored many of the other accusations levelled at the family (including drunk driving, embezzlement to manslaughter, unlawful death and drug running), season two focuses purely on Alex Murdaugh and the trial.

Whilst revisiting and repeating much of season one, by restricting its breadth over the three episodes, it’s a more satisfyingly made docuseries. Witnesses are now able to be interviewed, with former staff members indicating that they were ‘encouraged’ to lie in helping provide an alibi for Alex Murdaugh on the night of the murder. Evidence for the defence is slowly picked apart by the prosecution – embezzlement, money laundering, prescription drug peddling, divorce as Murdaugh is found guilty of double homicide.

It’s a fascinating insight into privilege – and whilst season two cannot compete with the sensationalism and reveal of the earlier miniseries, it provides a satisfying conclusion.

Rating: 56%

Director: Julia Willoughby Nason (Fyre Fraud, TV’s The Pharmacist), Jenner Furst (Fyre Fraud, TV’s The Pharmacist), Michael Gasparro

*There are now several fictionalised accounts of the family and events on streaming services*

‘The Bear’ (Season 2)

The raw confronting grit of season one makes way (in part) for a slightly calmer season two as Carmen ‘Carmy’ Berzatto (Jeremy Allen White) determines the ragbag diner is to be transformed into a fine dining experience.

All the kitchen staff return as they, to different degrees, embrace change. And, as Carmy finds himself (at the wrong moment) distracted by love (Claire – Molly Gordon), so it’s sous chef and partner Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) who steps up. It’s her dream and she has no intention of Carmy’s lack of focus derailing it.

Season two sees Carmy step back in terms of screen time as the likes of pastry chef Marcus (Lionel Boyce), newly promoted sous chef Tina (Liza Colón-Zayas) and Sydney herself become if not centre stage, certainly more present. One episode sees Marcus sent to Copenhagen (following in the footsteps of Carmy) to increase his skills; Sydney travels around Chicago taste testing as she goes – from fine dining to acclaimed street food. It’s a much calmer season as, with the old diner being renovated, the knocking down of walls is a symbolic reduction in the claustophobic intensity of the series. Until, that is, the extended episode 6 and Fishes – a flashback to a Berzatto family Christmas when Michael (Jon Bernthal) was still alive and cousin Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) happily married with a child on the way.

Meltdown is an understatement as the intensity of the occasion results in confrontation after confrontation – with the Berzatto matriarch (an extraordinary chain smoking Jamie Lee Curtis) creating tension in extremis in the kitchen. The calm of episode seven (Forks) as Richie finally understands what it’s all about is a welcome relief (and a personal favourite episode).

A slower burn and less immediate than season one with its emphasis on family (pregnant sister Natalie – Abby Elliott – is the project manager of the renovations, more personal stories of Sydney and Marcus are revealed), season two of The Bear nevertheless demands an emotional investment as its authentic narratives with the empathic highs and lows continue to take hold.

Rating: 79%