Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Equalizer 3!
Robert McCall returned to deliver violent vigilante justice in The Equalizer 3 — this time against the Camorra, a ruthless organized crime syndicate based on the real life organization of the same name. Acknowledged as the final chapter in the franchise, The Equalizer 3 needed a worthy antagonistic force to conclude McCall’s long-running saga. Since the first Equalizer movie back in 2014, McCall, played by the legendary Denzel Washington, has been serving justice on behalf of the oppressed against increasingly powerful villains.
In the first film, McCall quarreled with a brutal Russian gang to save a young girl. When the death of his friend and former colleague propelled the events of The Equalizer 2, McCall took on a crew of highly trained assassins. As the final chapter, The Equalizer 3 movie necessitated a bigger and badder antagonist, not only to send the trilogy out with a bang but to challenge McCall after an established history of expert vigilantism. Franchise director Antoine Fuqua didn’t disappoint in setting McCall against a notable opponent to end the trilogy, as McCall faced off against the Camorra, who mimic the cold-blooded, real-life syndicate they’re inspired by.
Equalizer 3’s Italian Mafia Villain Plan & What They Want
The Equalizer 3 kicks off with McCall single-handedly shooting his way through a fortified winery based in Sicily with the intention of recouping money stolen in a cyber-heist. Incidentally, he finds that the Sicilian winery plays a larger role in an illegal drug trade it disguises as normal business transactions out of the coast of Italy. Determining that there is a wider, more sinister plan at play, McCall anonymously contacts CIA agent Emma Collins (Dakota Fanning) from the coastal town of Altamonte. From there, the two realize they’ve stepped into a larger scheme devised by Italian crime lord Vincent Quaranta (Andrea Scarduzio) and the Camorra.
While Collins and a team of CIA operatives uncover Captagon psychostimulants and millions of dollars of cash hidden in the winery, McCall keeps a low profile in Altamonte despite the Camorra’s frequent transgressions against the town locals. However, once McCall learns that the Comorra are using coercion, murder, and trafficking with the intent of taking over Altamonte for commercialization purposes, he can’t help but get involved. What transpires is a battle over the humble Italian town, where McCall hurdles government corruption, threats against Altamonte and its people that he’s grown to love, and the endless resources the Camorra extorts.
The Camorra Is A Real Italian Mafia: Origins & History
The Equalizer 3’s antagonists were conceptualized from the real Italian Mafia-type group of the same name. Known to be one of the oldest and largest criminal organization in Italy, the Camorra has wreaked havoc in and around the European country in networks of groups called clans. Since the 17th century, Camorra clans have engaged in criminal activity of all sorts, from smuggling and counterfeiting to drug trafficking and money laundering. They’ve also committed more maniacal crimes like kidnapping and murder.
Over time, the Camorra evolved into a sophisticated criminal organization with rigid hierarchical structures that cultivated a rise in criminal agenda and an overall presence in Italy. The Camorra is considered by the Italian government to be one of the most violent threats to Italy, and they are responsible for a lot of Italy’s organized crime, even today. While the Camorra threat is neutralized from Altamonte by the ending of The Equalizer 3, the emergence and spread of Camorra clans in real life is still a pressing problem for Italy and nations across the globe.
How Accurate Equalizer 3’s Mafia Is To The Real Camorra Syndicate
Despite The Equalizer 3 being a dramatized account of a vigilante taking on such an organization, it does remain pretty accurate to the inner workings and agenda of the Camorra. In fact, quite similar to the overarching plot line of The Equalizer 3, Italian government officials seized a shipment of over 80 million “ISIS-made” Captagon pills from the Camorra in the summer of 2020 (via CNN). In The Equalizer 3, the Camorra is depicted conspiring with Captagon exporters in order to turn a profit off of the illegal drug trade.
In line with depicting the Camorra in an overall true light in terms of some of their larger organized crime agendas, The Equalizer 3 is also detailed in how the Camorra enacts such practices. Threatening local communities and law enforcers, recruiting young candidates to the cause, and using excessive force to follow through with terrorism plots are all characteristics of the real organization. It’s no surprise The Equalizer 3 is rated R because the Camorra is indeed a ruthless entity whose ferocity Washington’s McCall character had to match in order to take the syndicate down.
