John Wick 3: Parabellum
Released May 17, 2019
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run for two reasons - he's being hunted for a global $14 million dollar open contract on his life, and for breaking a central rule: taking a life on Continental Hotel grounds. The victim was a member of the High Table who ordered the open contract. John should have already been executed, except the Continental's manager, Winston, has given him a one-hour grace period before he's 'Excommunicado' - membership revoked, banned from all services and cut off from other members. John uses the service industry to stay alive as he fights and kills his way out of New York City.
CREDITS
Directed: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, and more.
Rated: R
Runtime: 131 min
SPOILERS BELOW
Don't come for the story, but stick around for the action. If you haven't been living under a rock for the last ten years, then you should be familiar with how the John Wick movies play out. First, you take a fairly one-dimensional plotline, and you hold that together with nothing but safety pins for two hours. Secondly, you film some of the most intense and brutal fight choreography ever put together. Lastly, just sit back and enjoy.
Please don't get me wrong, I absolutely love these movies. But let’s be honest, these are totally guilty pleasure movies. The first two were definitely more "full flavor" than this latest rendition – which barely held together any semblance of a story – but these films were never really intended to be very deep or meaningful. While that may sound harsh, and it may just be, the story for Parabellum was a serious afterthought. Now that I've gotten that part of the review out of the way, let's get to the biggest reason why you should go watch the latest installment of the John Wick series: unapologetic brutality.
The fight sequences in this movie are intense, to say the least. My favorite personal favorite was a knife fight that seemed to go on for a full five minutes, in true John Wick style. Interestingly, there are some rather unique fight sequences that almost seem light-hearted, yet still maintain a certain level of brutality. For example, in said knife fight, John throws such an excessive amount of knives at his foes that it's downright comical. It's not done in a "this-movie-is-so-bad-it's-funny" kind of way, rather, it's intentionally hilarious.
However, I feel the need to be a bit critical about this and a few of the other fight sequences throughout the movie. Even though they are well done and entertaining, many of the fights seem to go on for far too long. After what seems like ten minutes, the knife fight I was so fond of concludes with the most comical ax murder that I have ever seen. Hopefully, that holds true for everyone else as well, though possibly not if your name is Dexter.
I was completely caught off guard by the surprise appearance of one Halle Berry, but I did find that her character definitely added something to the film rather than being just another unnecessary celebrity name to add to the cast list; like plenty of other sequels out there. Berry plays Sofia, a badass ex-assassin who is introduced as she draws down on our hero. They give us a bit of her backstory and slap together a reason for her to side with John and help him out, but once the fighting starts you won't even notice how little they focus on the story.
I did appreciate that they didn’t leave out the recurring theme from the previous two films: “man's” relationship with “man's” best friend. Sofia is accompanied by her gorgeous, and terrifying, pair of German Shepards at all times. Not only are these dogs incredibly beautiful animals, but they are some serious badasses. In true John Wick fashion, they take out a ridiculous amount of bad guys, and they do so in the most dramatic ways.
As always, Keanu Reeves' real-life martial arts and firearm experience shines through. I have no doubt that Keanu actually knew what he was doing at any pretty much any point throughout the movie. If you’ve had the chance to watch some of the same videos out there on the web that I have, you’d know that he is an excellent competitive shooter, and he always looks very impressive doing it. The fighting styles and choreography were very similar to the previous two movies. Something that I personally enjoyed. It wasn't as if "Baba Yaga" discovered new martial art disciplines in between movies. He continues to use crisp judo techniques and a lot of close-up gun tricks. No complaints from me about that, but I can see how someone might find it slightly repetitive.
All in all, John Wick 3 is a solid summer action flick; just know what to expect going into it. Don’t assume Keanu Reeves is going to be nominated for Best Actor for his role in this film, but if you wanna see some intense and enjoyable action sequences, this one’s for you. I thought the movie was a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoy the world in which these movies take place. I definitely recommend that you go watch it and decide for yourself, but just go into it with the right expectations. I give John Wick 3: Parabellum a 7.8/10. I found it difficult to give this one anything higher knowing how little focus there is on the story, but the movie was totally saved from a much lower rating by the excellent choreography as well as the more humorous and dare I say, light-hearted deaths.
Final Rating: 7.8/10
Trailer for John Wick 3: Parabellum
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