Photo © Sony Pictures Entertainment
Denzel Washington in 'Equalizer 3'
Denzel Washington in 'Equalizer 3'
Are You Lonesome Tonight
(Film Movement DVD/Digital)
Neo-noir doesn’t get much better nowadays than this 2021 film from a surprising source, Mainland China. Like the American filmmakers who set the genre’s template in the 1940s, director Wen Shipei exposes the underside of his nation’s society in scenes of urban violence and poverty, sweatshops and crime. He has the right idea for shooting noir in color. The night scenes are bathed in lurid reds, sickly yellow streetlights, inky black pools where danger lurks and—of course—looming shadows.
The doomed protagonist is an air conditioning repairman who carelessly runs over a pedestrian and flees the scene. When he discovers that one of his customers is the victim’s widow, he is wracked with guilt and indecision. Should he confess? But turns out the widow’s relation to the dead man was complicated—and her deceased husband owes money to the mob. The repairman (who can fix nothing) is drawn by Fate into a labyrinth and we know it won’t end well. Most of the film consists of flashbacks (sometimes within flashbacks) as the protagonist utters hardboiled voiceovers. “Prison is the same every day. Even the nightmares don’t change.” And yes, the Elvis song is heard. The widow plays a copy of “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” as does the band at a dive bar. (David Luhrssen)
The Equalizer 3
(In Theaters Sept. 1)
Retired U.S. Marine and former DIA officer, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), has retired and reactivated himself more times than Tom Brady. In this third “Equalizer,” nothing’s changed. This time McCall is living quietly and happily in Southern Italy, where a restaurant owner and his family have all but formally adopted him. Since staying retired would never do, McCall is spurred to act after learning the restauranteur (along with other village business owners) is being shaken down by mafia thugs. With his watch’s stop-watch function timing his infamous attacks, a captured McCall warns a clutch of thugs to walk away or be dead in nine seconds. Their smirk, while underestimating McCall’s lethal abilities, is as short-lived as they are.
Directed by Antoine Fuqua who completes his trilogy of “Equalizer” films starring Denzel Washington, the titular character is loosely drawn from “The Equalizer,” 1985 television series created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim and starring Edward Woodward. Rebooted as a family-friendly TV series starring Queen Latifah, neither series matches Fuqua’s R-rated actioners for exciting combat featuring cleverly choreographed poundings. (Lisa Miller)
King of Killers
(Limited Theatrical Release & Streaming on VUDU, Sept. 1)
Action star Frank Grillo stars in a plot that pits a group of assassins against the globe’s top-rated killer. After losing someone he loves to assassination, quintessential hitman Jorg Drakos (Grillo), anonymously invites all the likely suspects to a secure Tokyo location. Eight international assassins arrive for a job promising a huge payday. They include former CIA killer Marcus Garan (Alain Moussi), Dyson Chord (the film’s writer/director Kevin Grevioux), renowned terminator Robert Xane (Stephen Dorff), and others played by Georges St-Pierre, Romy Peniche, Shannon Kook and Gianni Capaldi. All are unaware the others are invited or that the client is notorious assassin Jorg Drakos (Grillo). Since he’s certain one of them is the culprit, Drakos plans to kill them all to be sure he exacts his revenge. The $10-million-dollar payout is real, provided one of them kills Drakos first. With the location locked down, none can leave, compelling all to fight to the death. Cue deadly weapons, martial arts, dangerous disputes and a flurry of accusations as one killer after another seeks to survive 92 minutes of R-rated bloodletting. (Lisa Miller)
Tenebrae
(Synapse 4K UltraHD/Blu-ray)
American crime novelist Peter Neal becomes the inspiration for a killer, and potentially his victim, when he visits Rome on a book tour. The serial killer is stuffing the mouths of his victims with pages from Neal’s latest, whose anti-protagonist has an irresistible impulse to murder, finding “freedom” through annihilation.
With Tenebrae (1982), Italian writer-director Dario Argento continued his trek of mayhem as the prominent filmmaker in the Italian genre called giallo. With Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho as its archetype, giallo (and Tenebrae) is preoccupied with sex crimes by seriously deranged men. The concept of beautiful women as prey is even briefly addressed by one of the film’s characters, a feminist journalist who accuses Neal of writing “sexist” novels. Alas, she becomes an early victim (serves her right, Argento seems to imply), further encouraging the writer to play at his own game by turning detective. One thing left unraveled is why do killers in these Italian movies always wear black leather gloves? Maybe the answer lies in the dense thicket of interviews, commentaries and other bonus material in this new package. (David Luhrssen)
