The efficient yet derivative screenplay for this third “The Protector” is a foundation upon which Fuqua crafts his most graphically violent film. “Violence tells a story, and I love that,” he explains directly from his office in Los Angeles. “Therefore, every violent action is a scene of dialogue for us. And they’re usually fast and brutal.”
“The Equalizer: Final Chapter” is also the fifth film in which Fuqua has Denzel Washington in front of the camera in addition to the series with Robert McCall, they worked on the remake of “The Seven Oceans” and before that on “Training Day”, which stars its star earned an Oscar for Best Actor. “Right from the start, we agreed to keep trying new things,” he remembers. “Our relationship is characterized by absolute respect and trust.”
In the case of “The Protector” trilogy, it’s also about testing boundaries. On the surface, the films are about revenge and justice, but Fuqua always encouraged his protagonist to seek something deeper. “The violent scenes reveal more about McCall than the villains,” he suggests. “I see him as a good person who is in a moral dilemma with violence.” The director tries not to condemn the character: “We have to take the view that he is doing what he thinks is necessary.”
This gray area was the starting material for “Training Day”. In the 2001 drama, Denzel played a veteran detective who spends 24 hours with another cop, played by Ethan Hawke, while being vetted for a promotion. As the day progresses, Washington’s character reveals a face full of corruption and extreme violence, traits he considers essential to survival in the urban jungle and which foreshadow the brutality of his end.
“I think ‘Training Day’ balances the scales with ‘The Protector,'” Fuqua continues. “Both bring fantasy and also the harsh reality of things and depict violence that is not 100 percent real, but that also affects us.” When I ask if it would be more difficult to make “Training Day” today, he doesn’t hesitate: “No doubt. Because today we saw on video how police officers killed people, and before it was surprising that a police officer would be so diabolical.”