I honestly feel like it wouldn’t be fair to review this movie. Not because I think it’s one of those movies considered “review proof,” or whatever, but for the sheer fact that with each installment of the John Wick franchise so far, it’s almost like the filmmakers went out of their way to double down on all the elements of the previous film I enjoyed the most. When I saw the first John Wick, I loved the strange, comic booky world of assassins that surrounded an otherwise standard revenge narrative, and in the second one, they did just that. When I saw the second one, I loved the moments of slapstick comedy, utilizing influences ranging from Buster Keaton’s silent films to Jackie Chan’s brilliant mix of physical humor and precise, high octane martial arts. And sure enough, as I watched John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, that’s precisely what I got.
So, yeah, the new John Wick is awesome. It shouldn’t be surprising considered the investment that the filmmakers clearly put into this series, but it’s still astonishing when you step back and realize we now have an American action franchise that has managed to release a masterpiece one right after another, three times in a row. Rarely do franchise films hit a high note on their first film, and keep that quality so consistently throughout the sequels. And if the tease for the next installment in the closing moments of this film are of any consideration, I wouldn’t doubt the team might be able to do this a fourth time.
However, that’ll be a discussion for another time. This third film picks up right after the end of the previous film, which ends on John Wick (Keanu Reeves) being declared “excommunicado,” by the mysterious and all powerful High Table. He’s now on the run from assassins all over the world who want to kill him for the 14 million dollar bounty. Meanwhile, a representative from the High Table, The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) is investigating and punishing those who had assisted John in the previous film.
If I were to start somewhere critical, it would simply be the fact that the plotting is a tad sloppy. There’s a lot of jumping from location to location, and we spend a good chunk of the first half of the film wondering what John is trying to do as he meets up with The Director (Anjelica Huston), a figure from his past, and later meeting with an old friend, former assassin, now manager of the Continental in Casablanca, Sofia (Halle Berry). There’s a bit of a disconnect because we don’t know what John is doing, until it is finally revealed, and we’re given an exposition dump to explain the significance and how it fits into rituals of this assassin world. It could be the result of this film having the most credited writers (them being Derek Kolstad, who wrote the previous two, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Marc Abrams). However, the filmmaking is so well done that the issues I did have left so minor in the grand scope of things.
That’s basically where my complaints end. The rest of the film is as engaging, inventive, and beautifully crafted as this series has ever been. The action is more ambitious, the choreography is more varied, the momentum continuously builds and builds as the story moves forward. Plus, I loved how Sofia was given a moment to shine, along with her two lovely German Shepherds, during a fantastic gun battle around the halfway point. It’s everything you could possibly want out of a great action movie. And like I mentioned at the start, this one leans harder on its physical humor, as well as its Asian influences. An early knife-heavy fight sequence (which features Tiger Chen, who has worked with Reeves since The Matrix and starred in his underrated directorial debut, Man of Tai Chi), is full of delightful moments that play as equally brutal and playful, and that playfulness is a huge part of all the action sequences.
I also feel like the series hasn’t gotten the recognition it deserves as an exploration of a really compelling character who wants to be free of a violent past, but keeps finding himself going through the same cycle of violence over and over again while also having to face the ugly truth that he – perhaps in some degree – wants it because he’s so good at it, and his primal impulses to survive keeps him from simply ending it himself without a fight. This one continues to push this arc into interesting directions as the film explores the idea of consequences for your actions, and how they can come back to bite you. I wouldn’t call it a dense thematic exploration, but it does bring something to ponder in between the action.
I mean, what else could I possibly say about this without risking a total dive into absurd, but arguably deserved hyperbolic praise for what director, Chad Stahelski, and his stunt team have accomplished here. If it hasn’t already been made clear by the last film, then John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum officially cements the series as among the very best that action cinema has to offer, and not just in America. Keanu Reeves is terrific as always, Halle Berry is stellar and it’s so fun to see her character fight alongside John Wick, Asia Kate Dillon brings a cool and quietly sinister presence, Mark Dacascos is having a total blast as the big bad of the film, and returning cast members, Lance Reddick, Ian McShane, and Laurence Fishburne, are as great as you’d expect. I don’t know how they could possibly top this for the fourth one, but whatever it is they have in mind, bring it on!