John Wick 3: Parabellum

I'm a fan of the John Wick films. The action sequences are of the highest order and there is quite a bit that feels unique in each action scene. By half way through JW3I started to long for a plot line or a human relationship. There needs to be more to a movie than just fighting.

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.

This universe, created without any source material, had to develop and expand itself in every new film. The same fiction can not be made for each film. We don't know if Derek Kolstad had thought that John Wick would be this big when he first created it, but when we came to the third film it seems clear how the story deepened and became beautiful.

This film offers you all kinds of action. The film has a unique style of action. Any action you can think of is included in the third film. Moreover, exponentially! The enemies are increasingly jumping. As we saw in the trailer, there is even a horse escape scene. There's so much more to it. At this point, sometimes there can be a small illusion in the viewer. Only action-oriented films can be considered empty. We can say that John Wick 3 offers almost uninterrupted action for 2 hours and 10 minutes. But in doing so, it doesn't forget the story. You will learn new and very interesting details of John Wick and you will get new ideas about the functioning of the universe.

Stahelski has very impressive shots.The main venues preferred for the main fights were especially appreciated. The fact that the director's vision is so blended with Keanu Reeves and other actors is very effective on the traceability of the film. Stahelski deserves great praise.

The film also brings new characters. One of them is Sofia, played by Halle Berry. Obviously the audience will love Sofia. Halle Berry has done a great job. Mark Dacascos is one of our main villains; He portrayed the character Zero in the film.

Among the action films, it was both a strong story and an ambitious way of action. I think that the action-lovers will be pleasure separated from this film. 9/10

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.

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.