‘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

’Joy Ride’

Coarse, crass but immense raunchy fun as four Asian Americans friends join forces to find the birth mother in China of one of their group.

Successful lawyer Audrey (Ashley Park), having been adopted as a baby by an (white) American couple, yearns to travel to China to find her birth mother. Travelling to Shanghai on a business trip, she teams up with best friend since seven Lolo (Sherry Cola) and Lolo”s cousin, Deadeye (Sabrina Wu). And to make things easier, college friend Kat (Stephanie Hsu), now a successful soap star, is there to help. But things are far from easy. As the business trip goes pear-shaped, so the four women find themselves in all kinds of trouble.

Deadpan, eccentric humour from Deadeye, coarse innuendo from Lolo and Audrey playing it desperately straight with Kat somewhere between all three combine to make the crazed bonding tale a fun, hit and miss affair. Too crude for some, Joy Ride is not for all – and the humour doesn’t always work. But for pure escapist nonsense with a heart, it’s hard to beat.

Rating: 66%

Director: Adele Lim

Writer: Cherry Chevapravatdumrong (TV’s Family Guy, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens), Teresa Hsiao (TV’s Family Guy, Awkwafina is Nora From Queens)

Main cast: Ashley Park (TV’s Beef, Emily in Paris), Sherry Cola (Shortcomings, TV’s Good Trouble), Sabrina Wu (TV’s Verified Stand-Up), Stephanie Hsu (‘Everything, Everywhere, All At Once, Shortcomings)

‘The Recruit’ (Season 1)

In his first week in the legal department of the CIA, Owen Hendricks finds himself increasingly involved in dangerous international power politics that threaten the lives of all Eastern European agents and their contacts.

A routine task for the newest recruit – checking the veracity of mailed threats to the agency – results in Hendricks (Noah Centineo) dispatched to Phoenix and a women’s prison to assess former Russian asset Max Meladz’s (Laura Haddock) threats to divulge CIA secrets to the public. Hendricks believes its real and finds himself representing her back at Langley to convince Walter Nyland (Vondie Curtis-Hall) his department chief.

It’s the beginning of a thrilling cat and mouse espionage thriller as the seasoned Max looks to return home after several years in the US – but she needs millions of dollars as payment to buy her way back into the game. She needs help: the CIA all the way up to the White House have to determine whether that help is forthcoming and whether Max would be a reliable asset. But for a start they need to get her out of prison, sentenced as she is for murder.

The Recruit is high stake thrills from Doug Limon, director/producer of the Jason Bourne saga, but which also sees the Washington house-sharing domesticity of Hendricks and the backstory of Max’s arrival in the States. Arrogant but naive, the new recruit makes mistakes, both at home and at work, but his strut carries the day – and the manipulative Max trusts him. So much so, more experienced and calculating operatives – particularly take-no-prisoners Angel Parker (Dawn Gilbane) with her own agenda – are releuctantly forced to work with him.

It’s a charismatic, well-paced if flawed eight episode ride with that balance of thrills and domesticity. Hendricks obviously still has feelings for housemate and ex-girlfriend, Hannah (Fivel Stewart) and she, along with third housemate, Terence (Daniel Quincy Annoh), are innocently drawn into the world of secrets. But there’s no innocence about assassin gone rogue Max as the action flips from US soil to Europe.

Rating: 68%

‘13 Hours’

Bombastic yet appealling telling of a true story as, with the fall of Ghadafi, Libya freefalls into civil war – and American political and military personnel in Benghazi are targeted by various militia groups.

Jack Silva (John Krasinski – A Quiet Place, Aloha) is the final member of the ex-military contractors at an ‘unmarked’ CIA compound to arrive in Libya – just as tensions and anti-American sentiment reach boiling point. Ther’s no love lost between head of mission, Bob (David Costabile – Lincoln, TV’s Billions) and the team, adding to the tensions in the compound. When US Ambassador Chris Stevens (Matt Letscher – Her, TV’s The Flash) visits, all hell breaks loose as they are attacked by hordes of heavily armed locals. The security team of six need to somehow hold out until help is despatched.

Director Michael Bay (Ambulance, Transformers) typically pumps up the action and takes poetic licence with the unfolding drama but by his standards, 13 Hours is remarkably restrained. The humour and depth of friendship of the security team members help the balance of a harrowing film that could have so easily simply degenerated into gun battle after gun battle (which, in part, it inevitably is).

Nominated for 1 Oscar in 2017 – best sound mixing.

Rating: 65%

‘Mare of Easttown’

A wholly engrossing seven part miniseries, Mare of Easttown sees a small town detective investigate the death of a local teenager whilst coping with the dramas of family life.

Grieving for the recent suicide of her son, Mare Sheehan (a fearless Kate Winslet) heads the case when the body of teenage single-mum, Erin McMenamin (Cailee Spaeny) turns up in the creek. In the small Pennsylvanian blue collar town, everyone and everything is seemingly related as families, friends, colleagues are linked in some way to the victim.

Mare’s best friend Lori (Julianne Nicholson) provides support both professionally and personally as the detective emotionally struggles with the loss of her drug-addict son, the break up of the marriage to Frank (David Denman) and a distance from both daughter and mother who live in the same home. When Frank moves into the house at the back and is linked to Erin in spite of a previous denial, Mare’s world spins dangerously close to out-of-control.

Establishing an eventual close working relationship with newcomer Detective Zabel (Evan Peters) creates a degree of stability, helped by potential love interest from visiting professor (Guy Pearce). But this is Mare’s story all the way as, taking no prisoners, she delves, pushes, forces truths to the surface – even if it means alienating friends and family members.

Involving from the off, Mare of Easttown never lets go over its seven episodes with its cracking script (Brad Inglesby) and an ensemble cast that more than delivers (three acting Emmys a pointer!).

Rating: 82%