John Wick: Capítulo 3 - Parabellum

Following on from two deliriously entertaining, visually gorgeous and blissfully simplistic thrillers, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum keeps up the franchise's unique appeal in stunning fashion. Complete with electrifying action, beautiful cinematography, a pulsating score and a great sense of humour, the film is pretty much as purely joyful as action thrillers get, and proves two hours of brilliant entertainment.

Before I get into all of that, though, one of the greatest things about this franchise is just how simplistic it is. You may have seen John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2, you may not have done. Going into this third film, however, it's all pretty irrelevant, and while the first two films are certainly worth your time, absolutely anybody can go and watch this movie without any prior knowledge, and simply sit back and watch the fireworks.

The plot is effectively laid out for you in the first ninety seconds of the movie. John Wick is excommunicated, and there's a $14m bounty on his head. That's it. Following that brief bit of exposition are two hours of beautifully simple yet endlessly entertaining action, and while the film does keep you engrossed with its sense of mystery and intrigue surrounding this world of allegiances and deception, it's the thrill of the chase that really matters.

In that, there's almost never a moment where storytelling takes precedence over action thrills, with the movie bursting into life by way of an exhilarating opening act. However, much like the first two films, not every moment is fighting and shootouts, with the mystery, the tension and the intrigue all playing a part as John Wick encounters numerous people from his past in all manner of different scenarios.

There are moments in its middle portion that do drag a little more than others, and where the story perhaps gets a little self-indulgent, however there's no denying just how slick and purely entertaining a thriller this is regardless.

Of course, the action itself is brilliant as well. The opening act is astonishing, filled to the brim with insane action that features seamless fight choreography, brilliant camerawork and a fantastic sense of self-awareness that allows you to laugh at the most ridiculous moments. From then on, the film continues to burst into life with mad, energetic and dazzling action sequences again and again, only furthering the sheer entertainment appeal of the whole affair.

Also, there's no getting away from just how good-looking a movie this is. The camerawork in the fight sequences is certainly excellent, but it's the film's kaleidoscopic colour pallette and slick cinematography that makes it a feast for the eyes, pulling off the style of a pure pulp thriller in brilliant fashion once again, and with a pulsating, intense score playing throughout to boot, you'll definitely be on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

All in all, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum isn't much different from the previous two movies. It isn't the world's most intricate or intelligent thriller. However, with brilliant energy, dazzling visuals, stunning action and an invaluable sense of fun, absolutely none of that matters, and it instead proves a solidly entertaining, manic and dizzyingly joyful thriller throughout.

Another significant increase in body count contribution, not including the injured and\or maimed, as John inserts his wickedness into the flesh and bones of those whose aim is unworthy of their role in organised crime, either that, or they've never handled a weapon or are visually impaired or only shoot blanks or all three.

I liked the first two movies, both had a meaning behind all the action that takes place, this movie the plot is weak and the fight scenes way too long for the weak plot. Keanu still portrays his character as the Boogeyman really well, I enjoyed it but just felt it dragged on a bit much and the fight scene especially with Halle could have been cut down.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is technically the best of the John Wick films but it is also the worst in terms of story and character development. John Wick's story and motives take a backseat to the world-building and competing motives of the supporting characters. Parabellum is more about the High Table than John Wick's struggle. Overall, Parabellum is a stepdown from both its predecessors, thus making it the weakest of the trilogy so far.

Parabellum has many strengths that overcome its weak writing mainly Ian McShane as Winston, Mark Dacascos as Zero, and the requisite all-out action scenes. Halle Berry as Sofia and Lance Reddick as Charon contribute as well. The subplot revolving the internal struggle of the High Table made for some really good character moments mostly through Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne. The finale's twist is the film's biggest shock.

Chapter 2 gave a bigger scope to the John Wick world; Parabellum extends it further. Chapters 1 and 2 are hard to top, yet somehow, director Chas Stahelski has perfected his craft with Parabellum. The museum, Kasbah, and room of mirror fights are gloriously choreographed coupled with fantastic direction. Zero is also the best John Wick villain by far. The action scenes drown the drama though and feel gratuitous. John Wick starts on the run but by the end of the film, after Winston's seeming betrayal, seeming because an ulterior motive to temporarily keep the peace against the High Table is possible, we see him eager to directly confront his enemies.

On a side note, Parabellum seems more like an extension to Chapter 2 than as a separate film itself. The ending firmly establishes John Wick's turnaround from avoiding his previous life to facing them, hopefully in a satisfying and definitive conclusion in the sequel.

6/10

It is 5 years since the first John Wick film - one that took me by surprise by how silly it was as a narrative, but yet how well it delivered action sequences. The second film was only 2 years ago, and it raised the stakes and went from a man seeking revenge on another group of people, into one where the world was filled with assassins, popping up from everywhere all the time. I remember ending that film feeling like it had gone too far but that the third would probably do more of that. True enough, Parabellum ("prepare for war") sees the whole world filled with assassins, and a huge administrative system around them - but yet the whole lot of them can't seem to cause John Wick too much trouble. As with the first film, this expands the world more than it can bear, and although it looks cool at times, the world makes no sense whatsoever and it hurts the film the more it relies on it (which it does as it expands it).

The simplicity of the first film is therefore gone, and the slick fun is hurt because it feels bloated in scale, and has to work to sell this unsellable world to the viewer. At its best though, the film doesn't concern itself with this and instead has nicely flowing sequences of well-choreographed violence that is well directed and performed. It is brutally violent but it is almost like a ballet to watch it. Having two cast members from The Raid films had the positive impact of having them, but there was a negative too because those films manage to deliver stakes and tension in the violence - something John Wick just doesn't manage to ever do. I enjoyed the flow and pace, but never got caught up in a fight in a way where it had me on the edge of the seat; contrast the fight with Yayan Ruhian and Cecep Arif Rahman, and the fights that the two are involved with in The Raid 1 and 2 respectively - their John Wick fight is enjoyable but their fights in The Raid movies had weight, danger, and risk.

The endless lack of consequence does make it hard to stay engaged with, and it needs it to be cool and slick so that we never connect it to the real world - but seeing people stabbed in a busy train station with people just walking by without reaction does make that hard, for example. It is still slick, quite enjoyable tosh, and very well put together in terms of fight sequences, but it does feel bloated and overlong, and could have done with a tighter world - although I guess they cannot put that back in the box after the second movie took it out. Enjoyable for what it is, but it has a lot of weaknesses that detract while watching.