“This is where I’m supposed to be,” Robert McCall decides as he recuperates in Altomonte from a near-fatal mistake on his last mission. Has The Equalizer finally found the “peace” that he desired in the first film? Has he found a quiet niche in this picturesque Calabrian town, far away from the dangers and corruption McCall has fought? Not exactly, but this time the Equalizer is fighting against something new — the Mafia — and for something new as well.

The Equalizer series apparently finishes with this third entry from Denzel Washington and director Antoine Fuqua. Unlike some other action-film series, Washington and Fuqua throw in a couple of curveballs into the formula. We start off in a gory scene right off the bat, unclear why it happened but all too sure who did it. Rather than come to the rescue of a friend (as in the first movie) or revenge for another (Equalizer 2), we get the sense that McCall wants to live peacefully in Altomonte, where he ended up after the last mission went bad. Instead, when he realizes that his new friends are being terrorized, a kind of throwback to old Westerns in its way, McCall finds himself forced to suit up once more.

The innovations make this interesting, but make no mistake: this is still a formulaic revenge action film. It’s just a very well made formulaic revenge action film, with one big bonus: no politics. No lectures, no eye-rolling moments, no service to any aspect of the current cultural battlefield.

Instead, we get some nifty plot twists and some unexpected payoffs. Fuqua makes the most of the scenic views and the quaintness of the Italian village and masters the action sequences, and Washington makes the most of his charm and enthusiasm for the role. He’s given more to to consider especially as we see more of McCall’s former life intruding in this film than others, but for good reason, as we discover.

The people of Altomonte are interesting and fleshed out pretty well too, especially Remo Girone as Enzo and Eugenio Mastrandrea as Gio. McCall gets a sorta-maybe love interest in Gala Scodellaro’s Aminah, who gives her performance just enough subtlety to leave us wanting more. Two other additions are notable, too. David Denman plays it serious as a leadership figure in the CIA, and Dakota Fanning plays a key role in McCall’s plans as his CIA contact. That leads to a fan-service twist that pays off well.

As for the bad guys, well … they’re the bad guys. They’re not up to the psychological complexity of Marton Csokas and David Harbour in the first Equalizer, but they’re a bit less hokey than the former-colleagues-gone-bad in the first sequel, which still was very good. Andrea Scarduzio and Andrea Dodero do as much as they can with the roles of Mafia brothers, and are both malevolent  and realistic enough for audiences to root for McCall and the people of Altomonte.

The structure of the antagonists’ malevolence is more complex than in the first two films, but that is a problem for the film. After a very long and interesting build-up that makes it clear that these are McCall’s most formidable foes yet, the two conflicts come fast and are resolved a little too neatly. The sequences themselves are entertaining and satisfying, but one might have expected more complexity in those resolutions, too.

It’s still a heck of a ride, though, at least for those who appreciate the revenge action genre. Everything about Equalizer 3 is entertaining, and the plot does make one think more than usual in such action movies. Washington’s McCall is a great character, and if this is its sendoff (as has been rumored), then Fuqua has ended it well.

One note of caution, however: Equalizer 3 is a very bloody film. It earns its R rating right from the very first sequences with realistic gore and consequences of violence. Filmgoers who do not enjoy that kind of graphic violence are not going to enjoy this film. Fans of the Fuqua-Washington Equalizer series will know what to expect, but they should expect it early and often.

On the Hot Air scale, The Equalizer 3 gets a 5:

• 5 – Full price ticket
• 4 – Matinee only
• 3 – Wait for Blu-Ray/DVD/PPV rental or purchase
• 2 – Watch it when it hits Netflix/cable
• 1 – Avoid at all costs

Don’t take the kids to see this, and not the younger teenagers either. Respect the R in that sense. It’s there for a reason.