John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Review

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum movie posterSynopsis
After killing on Continental Hotel grounds, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is on the run from every assassin in New York City who is looking to collect his bounty.

Review
John Wick was a surprise hit back in 2014. The 2017 sequel, John Wick: Chapter 2, maintained the same energy that made its predecessor so exciting while also expanding on the assassin underground glimpsed at in John Wick. So what does John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum bring to the franchise? Guns. Lots of guns. Right from the opening, this movie let’s you know it will be the most brutal John Wick film yet. Wick killing with a pencil from Chapter 2 appears tame compared to some of the ways he kills in this movie. Something that makes this film unique amid other actions films is how darkishly funny it is. Throughout much film, the rest of the audience and I were constantly laughing, both at how comically savage the action is and at some genuinely funny moments. Director Chad Stahelski knows that Wick’s creativity and uniqueness among his fellow action heroes is what audiences love about the titular character and brings more of what has made him so popular.

John Wick introduced the assassin underworld and briefly touches on Wick’s previous assassin life, then Chapter 2 greatly expanded on the hidden world occupied by Wick and his fellow killers. In Chapter 3, there was some expansion on his past, and a smidge more about the assassin High Table. However, world building is where this films stumbles compared to the other films in the series. Since the last film explored the assassin world, this film would have benefited from going even more into Wick’s past and his beginnings than it did.

I thought John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was GOOD πŸ™‚ I’m afraid of Lionsgate trying to milk as much from this series as possible. Wick’s character isn’t expanded on as much and he isn’t left in much of a different position than we’ve seen elsewhere in the series. Nonetheless, the action is why we keep coming back to this universe and once again, Keanu Reeves and Chad Stahelski deliver on that front. Over-the-top, balls-to-the-wall action fills the movie from start to finish, never letting you catch your breath and constantly keeping you wondering what Wick will kill with next.

Trailer

Cast & Crew
Chad Stahelski – Director
Derek Kolstad – Story / Screenplay
Shay Hatten – Screenplay
Chris Collins – Screenplay
Marc Abrams – Screenplay
Tyler Bates – Composer
Joel J. Richard – Composer

Keanu Reeves – John Wick
Ian McShane – Winston
Lance Reddick – Charon
Mark Dacascos – Zero
Asia kate Dillon – The Adjudicator
Laurence Fishburne – Bowery King
Halle Berry – Sofia
Anjelica Huston – The Director
Said Taghmaoui – The Elder
Jerome Flynn – Berrada
Randall Duk Kim – Doctor
Margaret Daly – Operator
Jason Mantzoukas – Tick Tock Man