John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

It is 5 years since the first John Wick film - one that took me by surprise by how silly it was as a narrative, but yet how well it delivered action sequences. The second film was only 2 years ago, and it raised the stakes and went from a man seeking revenge on another group of people, into one where the world was filled with assassins, popping up from everywhere all the time. I remember ending that film feeling like it had gone too far but that the third would probably do more of that. True enough, Parabellum ("prepare for war") sees the whole world filled with assassins, and a huge administrative system around them - but yet the whole lot of them can't seem to cause John Wick too much trouble. As with the first film, this expands the world more than it can bear, and although it looks cool at times, the world makes no sense whatsoever and it hurts the film the more it relies on it (which it does as it expands it).

The simplicity of the first film is therefore gone, and the slick fun is hurt because it feels bloated in scale, and has to work to sell this unsellable world to the viewer. At its best though, the film doesn't concern itself with this and instead has nicely flowing sequences of well-choreographed violence that is well directed and performed. It is brutally violent but it is almost like a ballet to watch it. Having two cast members from The Raid films had the positive impact of having them, but there was a negative too because those films manage to deliver stakes and tension in the violence - something John Wick just doesn't manage to ever do. I enjoyed the flow and pace, but never got caught up in a fight in a way where it had me on the edge of the seat; contrast the fight with Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman, and the fights that the two are involved with in The Raid 1 and 2 respectively - their John Wick fight is enjoyable but their fights in The Raid movies had weight, danger, and risk.

The endless lack of consequence does make it hard to stay engaged with, and it needs it to be cool and slick so that we never connect it to the real world - but seeing people stabbed in a busy train station with people just walking by without reaction does make that hard, for example. It is still slick, quite enjoyable tosh, and very well put together in terms of fight sequences, but it does feel bloated and overlong, and could have done with a tighter world - although I guess they cannot put that back in the box after the second movie took it out. Enjoyable for what it is, but it has a lot of weaknesses that detract while watching.

..THE FILM-MAKERS, { VERY SIGNIFICANTLY }, HAVE FORGOTTEN TO ADD { " F A N T A S Y " }, TO THEIR LITTLE LIST OF GENRES APPLICABLE TO "JOHN WICK, CHAPTER 3 : PARABELLUM" .

" Life is suffering, Art is pain " ~ the Character known simply as : ' The Director ' .

This is EASILY THE MOST BRUTAL FILM I've seen in a fair bit of time. PLEASE { D O N ' T ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ } take your { M I N O R }-children/siblings/relatives/friends/wards along with you for this film. Sure the violence is 'Highly-stylized', but I can UNEQUIVOCALLY assure you : there's a seriously GRATUITOUS amount of "HARDCORE, UNABASHED, BLOODLETTING " in the picture, at EVERY-SINGLE-TURN. I just gave "MARVEL'S AVENGERS : ENDGAME" A { " FIERCELY TRIUMPHANT 10 / 10 " }, ( for crying out loud ! )..... so there's JUST NO WAY that I can, in 'All-good-conscience', give this particular cinematic-outing anything higher than a { " Resounding, Hard-Sought " } 7.25 MARKS OUT OF 10 MARKS .

NOW ON THE { P L U S ⭐ } SIDE :

The Said-Film is absolutely KNEE-DEEP IN : 1. SERIOUSLY RIP-TICKLING { & VERY, VERY TIMELY, INDEED - ! } CONCENTRATED BOUTS OF COMIC RELIEF ( SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE ⭐ ! ) , 2. UTTERLY "MIND-BENDING" { '& SEEMINGLY NEVERENDING' } FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY, & . . 3. SUBLIMELY "SYNCHRONIZED-TO-THE-ACTION" 👉 { NEON, FIRE-LIGHT & GENERAL SPECIAL-EFFECTS LIGHTING; OFTEN BATHING THE VIEWER IN SUPREMELY GORGEOUS COLOUR SWIRLS AND 'COLOUR-MACHINATIONS' } 👈 .....FOR THE PASSIONATE ART-LOVERS ⭐ , AMONG YOU, AT LEAST !

And believe-it-or-not , there are ( EVEN A FEW ! ) "UNEXPECTEDLY" TOUCHING MOMENTS OF UNADULTERATED, SOUL-STIRRING POIGNANCY .

The film is at the end of the day, more a SPLENDIDLY, UNASHAMEDLY-DARK "CARICATURE", then it is a mindless gore-fest .

And given that ( LITERALLY, " EVERY THIRTEENTH PERSON ! " - As depicted in the film, i.e - ) on the streets of New York City is represented as an EVIL, MURDEROUS-ASSASSIN, you would INDEED BE WISE to remember, ( where the film-makers appear to have VERY ERRONEOUSLY forgotten ), that this is, "When-all-is-said-and-done" ....

..... a pure, unadulterated ->- " F A N T A S Y ⭐ " ->- ( & THAT IS ALL ! ) ~ in order to be able to TRULY enjoy this "Veritably DARK, DARK, RED", Cinematic-extravaganza ~ TO THE FULLEST ⭐ .

I'm a fan of the John Wick films. The action sequences are of the highest order and there is quite a bit that feels unique in each action scene. By half way through JW3I started to long for a plot line or a human relationship. There needs to be more to a movie than just fighting.

I liked the first two movies, both had a meaning behind all the action that takes place, this movie the plot is weak and the fight scenes way too long for the weak plot. Keanu still portrays his character as the Boogeyman really well, I enjoyed it but just felt it dragged on a bit much and the fight scene especially with Halle could have been cut down.

John Wick 3 is without a doubt the best action movie to have come out in a few years. And its so surprising and refreshing to see that movies like this still exist. Most action movies you see is filled with ridiculous amounts of shaky-cam, fast edits and way over-the-top fights. This is perfect. You can see all action clear as day, and by god the stuns in this film are extraordinary. Why the Academy Awards don't award talent like this is beyond me. There were times that I wondered if they had used CGI, because someone nuts must be willing to throw themselves from motorbikes and through glass. But whatever case it is, its a dam joy to watch.

As with the previous 2 installments, John Wick 3 is where Keanu Reeves is at home. This role was just made for him, and watching him stand toe to toe with powerhouses like Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Anjelica Huston, not only shows how good he is as an action star, but as an actor in general. He hasn't been given a role this good since the Matrix, but those movies never showed how good he was just at acting. He sells this movie.

The supporting cast is all amazing, and I loved how they left their character's hanging, giving us hope of seeing them in future installments. I also loved how more in-depth the movie spent on world-building. The way it brings in different cultures into this assassin guild is done very well.

John Wick 3 is an amazing action movie that never loses its steam throughout, and its 2 hour run times flies past, because of non-stop action that is directed and choreographed to perfection. I can't wait to see if they manage to pull off the 4th like they did here.

8.8/10