John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Review)
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Takes Everything We Love About John Wick to the Next Level.
When I sat down to make my list of the most anticipated movies of 2019, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum was the first film to make my list. It’s a sequel that I’ve been looking forward to ever since John Wick Chapter 2 proved there was still a lot more story to tell when it came to the greatest assassin ever to appear on the big screen. I’ll admit I was a little nervous simply because I had no idea how John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum could possibly top the other two. While the story might not be quite as well crafted, the characters, lore, and action elements are all taken to a level I didn’t think possible.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know what John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is the man who killed an entire criminal organization over the death of his puppy. His actions in the first John Wick secured him as one of the greatest action figures of the new millennium. Actions have consequences and ever since his first brutal revenge-fueled rampage, he’s been running from them. However, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum features the titular assassin standing his ground and preparing to go to war with the mysterious organization pulling the strings in his crazy, yet beautifully crafted world. With every hired gun in the world looking to collect a $14 million bounty on his head, it looks like it might finally be a fair fight.
John Wick has run into some pretty colorful characters and organizations over the years, which is a big reason why I love the series so much. It’s not afraid to flex its creative muscles and no matter how crazy the ideas get is somehow it all seems grounded within the reality of the film. It’s astonishing how easy it is to simply accept the absurd when it comes to John Wick. This time around John is joined by an old ally, Sofia, who owes him a favor and has some of the most viciously trained attack dogs in cinematic history (Halle Berry). Watching her and Wick carve their way through an army of villains is a serious franchise highlight. However, what truly makes John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum enjoyable is that Wick finally has a villain worthy of throwing down with (Mark Dacascos). He’s a modern ninja who is a big fan of John’s work and also happens to some incredibly dangerous disciples, including two you might recognize from The Raid films (Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian). Though, let’s face it, does anyone really have a chance at defeating John Wick?
The John Wick films have a knack for blending opposing elements to create something new and exciting. Most obvious is the beautiful brutality at the core of its action scenes. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum continues the trend of one-uping the previous entry with new and exciting fight choreography featuring some of the best Gun Fu Hollywood has to offer. It wasn’t easy, but Chad Stahelski introduced a number of new and exciting elements from a giant to attack dogs to modern day ninjas. It might sound like John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is pushing its luck with some of these “gimmicks” yet they all seem to fit perfectly within the incredible mythos of John Wick’s world. Even with all the escalations this time around, the choreography sacrifices none of the elegant complexity that we’ve come to love about this franchise. In fact, it’s only managed to give Wick more opportunities to show off.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’s elegance doesn’t end at the fight scenes though. There’s this constant sense of old world meets new order throughout the film. John’s biggest threat in the film is a modern day shinobi who uses urban camouflage to disappear into the shadows while still being able to walk down the street without drawing unwanted attention. Many of the characters sport beautiful suits but still sport multiple tattoos that peek out every so often. The same goes with the sets that most of the film takes place in. Classic art and cultural artifacts are on high tech display creating a metaphor of the modern paying respect to all that came before it. These elements create a sense of tradition meets adaptation, old world elegance meets modern technology, art meets practicality, which makes John Wick’s world so incredibly engrossing and fascinating to explore.
The only real problem with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is that it relies so much on the previous movies in the franchise in order to tell its tale. It picks up mere moments after John Wich Chapter2 ends, which means those who haven’t seen the last two films will be completely lost. This causes it to struggle to stand on its own two feet. It introduces a ton of new and exciting elements, but I feel doesn’t take as much time or care with them as the last two films did. Still, it’s a more than worthy third entry in the trilogy. If you’ve loved the John Wick movies so far then John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is not to be missed. I loved every minute of it even despite the moments when it falters to maintain cohesion though it’s ever more complex story. Still, I love me some John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the perfect dose to keep me satisfied until the inevitable John Wick: Chapter 4.
