John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

GenerationofSwine 1/12/2023 1:37:55 AM 8.4

Part of me wants to pretend that I couldn't find the paper thin plot of the film and rag on it for a complete and total lack of story... but I could follow what little of a plot there was so that would be kind of disingenuous. Not only that, but it would also be pretending that I didn't know what kind of movie this was when I sat down with my wife to watch it. And, honestly, I can't stand the reviews that take a John Wick film and pretend that they expected something like Chinatown walking in. You know the ones I'm talking about, those reviews that lament the fact that they got a brainless action movie when they sat down to watch a brainless action movie. If I said "I'm not that deep" I'd be giving them too much credit. So rather than saying that, I'm going to say that, when I sat down to watch it, I didn't lie to myself and pretend it was going to be anything more than a John Wick film. What you have is sleek, beautifully choreographed action brought to you in the most brutal of ways and delivered in a form that requires you to suspend your disbelief because it is just the right amount of totally unrealistic. Does it have a plot? Yeah, but not really. It has just enough of a plot to make a loose story and not so much that it would get in the way of what was promised to be carnage candy. And, honestly, carnage candy is the promise that the John Wick people gave us and nothing more... and each installment of the franchise delivers on that promise. It never, ever, claims that it is anything more than an action film, and it never, ever pretends to be anything deeper. It isn't a great film. It never claims to be. But it is a great action film, so you have to take it for what it is.

Per Gunnar Jonsson 5/16/2024 3:21:17 PM 8.4

Let’s make one thing perfectly clear. This is a movie you watch for the action and not much less. But then, that not really a surprise is it? The movie takes off literally minutes after the last one ended. John Wick is on the run and that’s the story for most of the movie. Well, not entirely. He does have a plan but first he has to escape the many assassins trying to cash in the 14 million dollar bounty on his head. This movie is all about action. The movie is R-rated although I honestly do not understand why. Sure there’s lot of action and a lot of killing but still, I wouldn’t say it merits an R-rating and apparently the French ratings organisation didn’t either since here in France it France it got a 12+ rating. That is, it is only restricted for those younger than 12 years. Anyway, as I wrote above, this movie is all about Keanu Reeves and action. Lots and lots of action which usually ends up in one or more persons getting killed by John or some of his remaining friends. Is the story and the action realistic? Hell no! But it is fun to watch even though most of the bad guys shoots as accurately as imperial storm troopers. Most of the time at least. Towards the end I did think it got a bit silly. The fight against Zero and his last two students was pretty rubbish. It was kind of kick, hack and slash for a few minutes and then stand of and wait until the other guy got up again. Then rinse and repeat. Silly indeed. Also, they could really tone down on the ludicrous survivability of John Wick. I mean, come on! He gets hit by cars and walks away. Not to mention the final scene were he falls something like six seven floors, bounces (and I mean bounces!) off a fire escape and a trash container and apparently survives. I probably should rate the movie a star less for that kind of stuff but I wont. This is something as refreshing as a Hollywood movie apparently meant to entertain and nothing else. There’s really no political or social preaching or any other such nonsense which is really rare today. That alone gives it a few extra stars in my book. The movie has a 7.7 rating on IMDb at the time of writing this which is well deserved, even a bit low. Even the rubbish SJW site Rotten Tomatoes claims the movie is “fresh” which is surprising given what I wrote above. Of course there is a whole bunch of “reviews” that claims it is so bad and so on and so forth. Some of these reviews are actually repeated several times. That really pisses me off since these people seem to write reviews just to complain. It’s the third movie in the Franchise for Christ sake! You knew what you were getting yourself into. Don’t watch the movie if you do not like these kind of movies. Claiming there is no story is bullshit since the first one didn’t really have much more story but then the concept was bit more new of course. Some “reviewer” claimed it was the worst movie he had ever seen. He cannot have seen many movies then. What a load och bollocks! Bottom line, this was two hours of great entertainment.

Nathan 2/1/2023 6:22:12 PM 8.4

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum picks up right where the sequel left off, with Wick being excommunicated from the assassin underworld. The bounty is set at $14 million and Wick has an hour to escape the city before his former associates come to collect. While the plot might not be as strong as the sequel, it continues the same story points seamlessly. This film feels more like a continuation of larger narrative spanning across franchise, rather than separate semi-connected story like the first two. This film is bigger than the last, with vast and diverse landscapes for Wick to create havoc in. The lore of world is expanded showing us more of the assassin leadership and how the chain of command works. All of the new additional characters worked well and were integrated into the story perfectly. The action is picked up a notch, creating some of the craziest sequences I have ever seen on the screen. The fight inside of the knife shop was insane, it left me with my mouth literally dropping to the floor. It is one of my favorite action sequences in any film. One thing I particularly liked is the sense of desperation and isolation that surrounds our main character. We see John Wick tested to the extremes, pushing the boundaries resulting in creative stunts and tactics to fight off multiple assassins at a time. It was really fantastic. The cinematography was incredible here as well. This film shows that with good choreography and a wide shot, you can create gripping scenes that do not require fifteen different jump cuts. The motorcycle chase has got to be one of the most breathtaking and seamless action sequences I have ever seen. The acting quality sees a significant increase in quality when compared to the first two entries. Keanu Reeves is still Keanu Reeves, delivering a fairly cheesy and awkward performance, but that is what you come to expect and cherish about this franchise. The addition of Halle Berry and Asia Dillon were fantastic as the both added some serious dramatic acting beats that raised the quality of the film immensely. Berry and Wick had some great chemistry together. Overall, this film is excellent and if each entry can build upon the last like history has shown, the sky is the limit for this franchise. Score: 87% Verdict: Excellent