Movie Review: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Director: Chad Stahelski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick

Rating: R

Runtime: 131 minutes

I was quite late to the John Wick party if I’m being honest. I recall purchasing the first film back in 2015, watching the first twenty minutes with my mate, getting distracted and never actually going back to it. It wasn’t until this year that I first sat down and watched it and, in sharp contrast to all those years ago, was immediately hooked by it. The action, the story, Keanu Reeves, everything worked like a well-oiled machine. So it was in eager anticipation that I waited for John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Could it do what John Wick: Chapter 2 couldn’t, and recapture the quality that was apparent in the original?

The answer to that question is a resounding yes. Yes, it very much can recapture the quality of the original film. In fact, I’d go as far as to say this is better the original film.

The plot of John Wick: Chapter 3 is as follows. Immediately following the events of the second film, John Wick is ex-communicado, that is to say, he is an outlaw from the society of assassins he is a part of. A bounty is placed on his head, and now he must fight desperately to survive. It’s a pretty typical story for an action film, but the way it’s handled is rather unique, particularly the fact it’s not the assassins chasing some normal civilian, but chasing a master assassin who could kill them all with ease.

You can’t really discuss any of the John Wick films without looking at the action. And boy, there’s a lot of action in John Wick: Chapter 3, all of it incredible. If you don’t want spoilers for a certain setpiece, I suggest looking away now. Did you look away yet? To anybody still reading, there’s a moment in the film where John Wick kills somebody using a book. And yes, it’s as amazing as it sounds. Chad Stahelski’s direction has a certain brutality to it that lends itself very well to the John Wick franchise.

Keanu Reeves is a treasure of the film industry, he’s just so brilliant at what he does. His role as John Wick, a tortured soul and one of the biggest badasses in film, seems tailor-made for him and Keanu Reeves plays him with such passion that you can’t help but not enjoy watching him dispatch people with ease, in a twisted way. Halle Berry was featured heavily in the marketing for the film, and while her role is a bit smaller than I expected, she still lends herself to some of the tensest scenes in the film. The rest of the cast is also great, with Ian McShane’s Winston, Asia Kate Dillon’s Adjudicator, and Mark Dacascos’s Zero being particular highlights. Oh and Lance Reddick returns as Charon, the concierge of the Continental Hotel, and he’s as brilliant as is the other two Wick films. I’m looking forward to hopefully seeing more of him in the planned John Wick spin-off TV series.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a triumph in almost all regards. While the second act has scenes that drag on for too long, at least to me, the action alone is well worth the ticket price. I’m extremely excited to see what’s coming next in this franchise and to see more insane moments.