DENZEL WASHINGTON'S VIGILANTE BATTLES THE ITALIAN MAFIA IN 'EQUALIZER 3'

There’s an awful lot of talk about the end of movie stars considering Denzel Washington is right over here, walking around.

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Antoine Fuqua’s “Equalizer 3,” a taut and textured sequel to Washington’s vigilante series, isn’t one of the actor’s best films. It wouldn’t crack his top 10. But it vividly encapsulates Washington’s formidable on-screen potency.

You might think this would be in the movie’s brutal action sequences, but no. It’s the scenes of Washington fastidiously having a cup of tea at a sidewalk cafe or strolling the streets of a Sicilian town. This is a movie stitched together less by its plot mechanics than the pleasure of watching Denzel smirk, scowl and smile, in leisurely scenes mixed in with all the murder.

In that way, the “Equalizer” movies (the third of which is certainly the best of a so-so bunch), remind me of those great Walter Matthau thrillers like “Charley Varrick” and “Hopscotch” — movies about old men with expressive eyebrows who are set in their ways but have plenty of tricks left up their sleeve. (Washington, now 68, also took over Matthau’s role in the remake of “Pelham One Two Three.” )

There’s no shortage these days of older stars plying their special sets of skills in action thrillers. Throw a stone in a movie theater and you’re likely to hit (and risk drawing the lethal ire of) Liam Neeson, Harrison Ford or Tom Cruise. “Equalizer 3,” an all-in-all good entry in the genre, is on the bloodier end of the spectrum.