Mission Impossible has refined set pieces (and Tom Cruise’s running) into sleek, efficient pieces of movie storytelling, then the John Wick franchise has elevated action choreography into a veritable art form.
The series stands shoulder-to-shoulder with other recent flicks such as The Raid series and Captain America: the Winter Soldier. What sets John Wick apart from those films, however, is the unique lore that comes a la carte with the nonstop violence.
John Wick, at it’s core, feels like a stylish, brutal indie comic book come to life; John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum is no exception. Early on in the film, Wick runs into his first assassin in the New York Public Library. Wick (Keanu Reeves), like the connoisseur of violence that he is, jams the book in his hand into the man’s jaw and punches it as hard as he could down his throat. After a couple of strikes, the man is incapacitated, and Wick curtly retrieves the book and puts it back on the shelf. The film is filled with inventive fight scenes such as this, stretching from the streets of New York to Casablanca and the Sahara.
Escape from New York
After the events of John Wick: Chapter 2, our hero is on the run from a multitude of killers looking to claim the $14 million bounty on his head. Wick uses the last few tricks up his sleeve to buy passage out of New York, determined to find a mysterious man known as the Elder who can fix his ‘Excommuniado’ status. Back in New York, in the meanwhile, a woman known as the Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) is investigating Wick’s trail, questioning everyone in the assassin community who helped him on his path of vengeance. She eventually enlists the aid of a sushi chef, Zero (Mark Damascos) to hunt Wick once he returns to the city.
There are plenty of exciting scenes in the film, but perhaps the one that stands out the most is where Wick teams up with an old acquaintance, Sophia (Halle Berry) to take on her old boss.
Sophia’s pair of dogs are active throughout the whole scene, attacking their enemies legs (and crotches) left and right. But there’s plenty to love about the other set pieces too: there’s a moment where John duels with a man underwater, grabbing his shoulders and executing a double tap on his head and neck.
An Exercise in Masterful Gunplay
This is Chad Stahelki’s third film, and it’s apparent that he has grown from his experience directing the previous two installments. Stahelski, Dan Laustsen (cinematographer) and Kevin Kavanaugh (production designer) deliver an endless stream of beautifully shot action scenes, where Wick takes upon hordes of men armed with guns, books and even horses.
However, the story is short on plot and narrative depth, as can be expected from a franchise where the main protagonist is more of an act of God than a mere assassin.
Still, the film holds up well, in great part due to Reeves’ performance. His quiet, cold demeanor is a perfect fit for the franchise, and the way he emotes and works his scenes with very few spoken lines reminds me of other silent protagonists such as Clint Eastwood in their heydays. Other big names, such as Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne do well with what they are given, but this is first and foremost the Keanu Reeves show. His presence is a delightful contrast to the loud, raucous energy of other action stars like Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham.
Parabellum is more of a technical accomplishment than it is a cinematic one. It desensitizes the mass-murdering of men and women the way video games do, and it does so in beautiful fashion. There’s a bit in the third act where Wick asks for ‘guns, lots of guns’ from Charon, who promptly obliges his request, leading Wick to the Continental’s armory. Once there, Wick takes a good amount of time trying out a huge variety of firearms, admiring the gold-plated, armor piercing shotgun shells on display. A few seconds later, Wick is mowing down man after man with his new weapons, engaged in a deadly form of ballet where both performance and art are key.
The film ends with a cliffhanger that teases an eventual fourth installment. Of course, there is a chance that franchise fatigue may set in the near future, but as it stands, John Wick is Keanu Reeve’s most consistent franchise so far. Everyone involved in these films are dedicated to delivering the best action films they can make, and although the world building isn’t always top notch, it’s not as navel gazing or frustrating as the Matrix sequels were.
If you haven’t still seen Parabellum, do try to catch this one in the theater. Everyone involved is working at the highest level to bring you a sleek, relentless action flick that entertains for most of its 2 hour runtime.
Although the first John Wick is still the best in the franchise, there’s a kind of poetry to the way everything works in this third film: a rhythmic stanza that stretches and contracts, depending on the nature of violence taking place on the screen.
If you are a fan of action flicks, then rest assured, you will love this (and probably come back for a second viewing, too).
