It seems redundant at this point to write a review for a film like John Wick. This franchise might be the ultimate example of solidifying a fanbase. The audience knows what to expect while the film delivers its message loud and clear with bullet-riddled bodies and neck snaps.
Now in its third entry to the series where our hero has undoubtedly killed more people than Thanos’ snap, Chapter 3: Parabellum finds Mr. Wick (Keanu Reeves) dealing with the fall out from the last film after killing a member of the High Table on the grounds of The Continental. John Wick is given one hour to pull himself together and get out of New York alive while dodging every hitman, woman, and child under the sun is out to collect the hefty bounty placed on his head.
What’s truly great with this series (and what I believe continues to drive and expand the fanbase) is the secret world of mythos that exists in these movies. From markers to gold coins to Continental law — this is world orchestrated by rules. “Rules, without them we are just animals,” a phrase so often coined by Continental Manager Winston (Ian McShane). Winston is another character facing scrutiny under the watchful eye of The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillion) who is investigating the Continental killing as well, giving Winston seven days to find a successor.
John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum runs roughly 30 minutes longer than the two predecessors. This extra time is mostly used to dive into John Wick’s background, explore more of the film’s mythos, and meet a wide array of new characters, all of which do a real good job of adding a new element to the film. We meet The Director (Anjelica Huston), another servant of the High Table who is directly linked and responsible for molding John into the legendary assassin he has become. It’s intriguing to see John’s roots stem from Russian origin regarding his real name and other clues.
Along with The Adjudicator is her personal team led by Zero (Mark Dacascos), who if nothing else is just a real fanboy of John Wick and his work. Zero brings a lighter feel to the more tense, and severe scenes with his geeking out at the chance to go toe-to-toe with the Baba Yaga. Rounding out the additions to the franchise is Sofia (Halle Berry), the Manager of the Continental in Casablanca. Berry, unsurprisingly, holds her own with some inventive fight scenes alongside Reeves. Reeves and Berry have an amazing chemistry throughout the film, especially when fighting back to back.
It’s really interesting how this series has evolved from a simple dead dog-driven revenge flick back in 2014 to now where there’s international intrigue, and a wide array of character, mythologies, and stories all interconnected to John Wick.
The action set pieces, hand-to-hand combat, and chase sequences, are all top notch, as expected. You can tell there’s a real love invested in this film in regards to the unveiling of new terrain, and the arsenal pieces. These require a whole other level of appreciation altogether. There are a few nice inventive kills hidden along the way so I will let sleeping dogs lie and not spoil them. It’s best to go into this as fresh as possible and just enjoy the ride.
All in all, John Wick’s latest outing is yet another visual experience that does the impossible task of not retreading over old ground. Everything set out by returning director Chad Stahlecki nearly lands perfectly — outside of a few minutes in the middle that could have been trimmed out. Now that John Wick has settled into one of the top action franchises of our time it’s really exciting to see where it goes from here. Only bigger and better I hope and from the look of it, retirement is a long way’s off for our titular man of action. Bravo, Mr. Wick, Bravo.
