Directed by:
Chad StahelskiCinematography:
Dan LaustsenCast:
Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Tobias Segal, Anjelica Huston, Saïd Taghmaoui (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
John Wick returns with a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the world’s most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn. (Lionsgate US)
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Reviews (13)
I wasn't entirely happy with the second film, but the third one made up for it. John Wick is moving forward, not in the sense that he's killing more people (although he might be doing that too), but director Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have figured out an awful lot of unorthodox ways to do the killing on screen. Whereas last time it was mostly shoot-outs, this time around it relies more on contact fights, sharp weapons, and what I'd call a "four-legged arsenal." And it's great! Each action scene is different than the last. There's a shootout, then there's a motorcycle chase, a big vs. small or small vs. much smaller fight, and they manage to squeeze the absolute most out of all the action moments. Within the first half hour, the John Wick 3 does so many things that would last most action movie directors their entire careers. A big plus this time around is the presence of really strong supporting characters, whether they're on Wick's side or at his throat. While Stahelski continues to expand the world and mythology and I continue to feel that it's not entirely necessary, at the same time, it doesn't feel as forced as last time and given the qualitative and indeed quantitative shift in the action, I'm happy to forgive him for that. I'm glad that the people responsible for this franchise clearly haven't run out of ideas yet.
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Mr. Wick again raises the standard of Hollywood action. Stahelski and Reeves draw from a seemingly bottomless wellspring of ideas. Action in the library, the stables, the hotel and on the street. Knives, pistols, horses, dogs, a book – anything can be and is turned into a lethal weapon, often used in a very original way. The balance of action and mythology serve Chapter 3 well, thus giving us the best from both preceding instalments. The film also works very refreshingly with the legend represented by Jardani Jovonovich; after all, arch villains are big fans of his work. The supporting roles are very powerful this time and are developed in really unexpected directions. Beautiful interiors and exteriors; it’s one big luxury tour. Carry on as you are. It’s an honor to fight you, Mr. Wick.
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The best two scenes open the third instalment of the John Wick series and are rather actually the ending of the second one. Then a new, slightly different movie begins. The outlined movie universe is developed and we encounter its power brokers. The journey to them, however, does not reach the dramatic epic nature or visual magnificence of Rome from the second part, with its disco, catacombs and the Camorra boss. And the stylish elegance of the previous sequel with its 100% focus on Wick turns into an unpredictable bit of surrealism with apparent errors of logic and multiple characters who influence Wick’s destiny in a manner other than with a lethal handgun. However, it is still a very enjoyable representative of the series within its genre.
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This episode has a brutal ramp-up. Much like the second film, it churns out its top moments in the first few minutes, delivering a heady experience for action flick fans. The fight with the giant in the library, and the climactic sequence with the knives are the highlights and the ultimate reference of the genre for Hollywood. The only thing that compares to Vick in the female category is Charlize Theron on the stairs in Atomic Blonde, and The Raid, which is directed by a similarly enthusiastic action fanboy. Unfortunately, after Casablanca, the film tilts into a sort of arcade concept with increasingly intense fights, which, while visually imaginative and well done, lose pace and become a bit monotonous. There’s a great cameo for action lovers and, of course, the amazing work of the stunt team, but it would work better as a compilation of scenes than a film as a whole. For non-fans, it’s an ordeal, because if you close your eyes for five minutes, you won’t miss anything. The second film was less flashy, but more consistent with a more solid framing of the story and well reined. John Wick 3, on the other hand, is clearly the furthest along technically and in terms of action concept, but also the most off the rails. Maybe it wanted to be like The Raid 2, but they forgot about the story.
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The third outing of John Wick carries on with the legacy of the second one, using thoroughbred action to move forward a simple story and to reveal corners of that world which had previously remained hidden. It significantly reinforces the serial nature and the mutually supporting narratives across the franchise and its structure and, at least after a first screening, feels considerably more loose and episodic than the previous entries, which is mainly thanks to the work with the old-new characters and the action scenes. What is missing this time is the presence of a dominant villain, like in the two previous episodes, that could direct Wick’s motivations and would give form to the obstacles throughout the film. Parabellum is no longer a story about vengeance and its consequences, it’s about the culmination of an uprising against a powerful system, where the cards can be unexpectedly turned and the tension is provided by the constant confrontation of characters and not by a smooth journey towards a final clash. Most of the secondary characters appear for a few minutes to help John, both to take another step forward in his rebellion (and to explain it psychologically) and to increase a little more the knowledge of the audience about the scope and practices of that world. Wedged into all that are the action scenes, which are plenty, and they are all either preceded or followed by another shift in the plot. And while some of them are truly magnificent, with unexpected settings and cool killing tools (if you’re someone who doesn’t respect horses yet, that will change), others feel a bit tiring with their repetition of similar gimmicks. But I still have to tip my hat in appreciation at Stahelski, the stuntmen and Reeves, because almost every single action sequence, despite the fluctuating wow factor, is a showcase of the most honest school of stunt work and staging, next to which The Expendables should hide in a corner and pray John Wick won't find them. However, as effective as the film is in its dynamic sequences, the quiet interludes don’t have much glittering potential. Whereas the second one had mortar in the shape the main villain, here I missed a similar driving force, especially in the middle, when seeing armed goons jumping on poor John from every corner started to get a bit boring. The ending, fortunately, corrects the inconsistencies and prepares a very fertile ground for the shootout and fistfight of the century, which cleverly underscores the core concept of personal rebellion and further reinforces the driving idea of "John Wick vs The World". It’s not as elegant and smooth as the second one and the pace grinds at times, but that final scene manages to surprise and put most of the doubts away in a box labelled minor details. 85%
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