John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – Movie Review
Keanu Reeves returns for a third time as the ultimate assassin, John Wick. When it comes to big budget action films, things don’t get more impressive than this series. With each chapter, stuntman turned director, Chad Stahelski does everything in his power to top himself. This of course puts the pressure on his stars and stunt team as well. Reeves, who is in his late fifties, may not do the major stunts (like getting hit by a car), but when it comes to the fight sequences, the dude delivers. Just as impressive is Halle Berry who trained for six months with her K-9 costars before cameras started to roll. That hard work pays off with one of the most insane action sequences involving Reeves, Berry and the pair of four-legged action stars.
“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” picks up at the exact moment “Chapter 2” left off, but I doub’t you will need to remember much to understand what is going on in the new film. John has only minutes left before he is excommunicated from the criminal underworld and a $14 million price tag is put on his head. He has been beaten, shot and stabbed, but that won’t stop him from finding a way out of this hopeless situation. John’s actions in the previous film not only affected him, it also affected those who aided him. This includes the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburn) and the head of the Continental Hotel, Winston (Ian McShane).
John’s only shot at making things right is by pleading to the head of the organization that put the price on his head. This leads him to Casablanca where he seeks out the aid of Sofia (Berry), someone that he had helped in the past. As I mentioned before, Berry adds something new to the Wick series, as we finally get to see our star work with a partner. Plus, the dogs are just insanely awesome. My biggest gripe with “Chapter 3” is that it seems to have forgotten why people loved the character so much in the first film. This was a guy who lost his wife to cancer and then his puppy was killed (the last thing his wife gave him). He wanted revenge. John still wants to live to remember his wife, but it just feels like it’s way in the back of the story. What we are left with is a 132 minute non-stop action film.
I don’t want to giveaway how the rest of the story (however thin it might be) plays out. The action here is top-notch, silly, beyond absurd, but still delivers the “wow” factor. Not only does John fight while riding a horse, he also does so on motorcycle. Admittedly, the action does feel repetitive from time-to-time. How many times can you see someone get thrown through a glass window before it becomes uninteresting? Regardless, if you love action movies, you are not going to find one that will satisfy you nearly as much as this one. Don’t expect any closure either, much like
Chapter 2”, we are left with a cliffhanger that all-but-assures us that Mr. Wick isn’t quite done.
By: Marc Ferman