जॉन विक 3: पराबेल्लम

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

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.

..THE FILM-MAKERS, { VERY SIGNIFICANTLY }, HAVE FORGOTTEN TO ADD { " F A N T A S Y " }, TO THEIR LITTLE LIST OF GENRES APPLICABLE TO "JOHN WICK, CHAPTER 3 : PARABELLUM" .

" Life is suffering, Art is pain " ~ the Character known simply as : ' The Director ' .

This is EASILY THE MOST BRUTAL FILM I've seen in a fair bit of time. PLEASE { D O N ' T ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ } take your { M I N O R }-children/siblings/relatives/friends/wards along with you for this film. Sure the violence is 'Highly-stylized', but I can UNEQUIVOCALLY assure you : there's a seriously GRATUITOUS amount of "HARDCORE, UNABASHED, BLOODLETTING " in the picture, at EVERY-SINGLE-TURN. I just gave "MARVEL'S AVENGERS : ENDGAME" A { " FIERCELY TRIUMPHANT 10 / 10 " }, ( for crying out loud ! )..... so there's JUST NO WAY that I can, in 'All-good-conscience', give this particular cinematic-outing anything higher than a { " Resounding, Hard-Sought " } 7.25 MARKS OUT OF 10 MARKS .

NOW ON THE { P L U S ⭐ } SIDE :

The Said-Film is absolutely KNEE-DEEP IN : 1. SERIOUSLY RIP-TICKLING { & VERY, VERY TIMELY, INDEED - ! } CONCENTRATED BOUTS OF COMIC RELIEF ( SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE ⭐ ! ) , 2. UTTERLY "MIND-BENDING" { '& SEEMINGLY NEVERENDING' } FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY, & . . 3. SUBLIMELY "SYNCHRONIZED-TO-THE-ACTION" 👉 { NEON, FIRE-LIGHT & GENERAL SPECIAL-EFFECTS LIGHTING; OFTEN BATHING THE VIEWER IN SUPREMELY GORGEOUS COLOUR SWIRLS AND 'COLOUR-MACHINATIONS' } 👈 .....FOR THE PASSIONATE ART-LOVERS ⭐ , AMONG YOU, AT LEAST !

And believe-it-or-not , there are ( EVEN A FEW ! ) "UNEXPECTEDLY" TOUCHING MOMENTS OF UNADULTERATED, SOUL-STIRRING POIGNANCY .

The film is at the end of the day, more a SPLENDIDLY, UNASHAMEDLY-DARK "CARICATURE", then it is a mindless gore-fest .

And given that ( LITERALLY, " EVERY THIRTEENTH PERSON ! " - As depicted in the film, i.e - ) on the streets of New York City is represented as an EVIL, MURDEROUS-ASSASSIN, you would INDEED BE WISE to remember, ( where the film-makers appear to have VERY ERRONEOUSLY forgotten ), that this is, "When-all-is-said-and-done" ....

..... a pure, unadulterated ->- " F A N T A S Y ⭐ " ->- ( & THAT IS ALL ! ) ~ in order to be able to TRULY enjoy this "Veritably DARK, DARK, RED", Cinematic-extravaganza ~ TO THE FULLEST ⭐ .

About 6 months ago I saw a picture of the set of 'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' featuring Keanu Reeves on horseback shooting at motorcyclists. It was such a great looking shot that I have been waiting eagerly to see how it looked in the actual film ever since. It did not let me down. The style this film possesses is insane. It is one of the best looking action films I have ever seen.

The pacing of this film is also incredible. It starts the action immediately and almost never lets up. I can't wait to see what the death count was in this film because it will be truly enormous. The only problem is when the death count is that high the film can struggle to keep the originality up. After a while each death starts to look very similar to the last, and the 50 before that, and it can even become a little tedious to watch.

The only other flaw I came across with the film was that John Wick is on the defence too much. Instead of being angry and on the hunt like the first two films, for the majority of the Chapter 3 he is in survival mode. Still very fun to watch, but it isn't quite the same as seeing him take brutal revenge.

And the film is brutal. I could be wrong but I don't remember the first two entries in the series making me cringe in terms of violence as much. There were some very hard things to watch at times in this movie even for me, and I pride myself on handling those sorts of things fine most of the time. One of them early on got an audible gasp from the entire audience and I saw multiple people having to turn their heads to the side.

'John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum' is two hours of your life that will pass by very quickly. This is as non-stop action as films get. I think this is the third best action series currently producing movies (after 'James Bond' and 'Mission Impossible'). Will it get a third one? The first entry on the trivia page suggests no, however the end of this movie suggests yes? I guess we will have to wait to find out. For now enjoy the hell out of this one.