"JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM" (2019) Review
I have seen all three films in the "JOHN WICK" franchise so far. All three of them. However, "JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM" is the first film I saw in the movie theaters. And it is the first I have reviewed for my blog.
"JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM" picked up a few minutes later after the franchise's last film, "JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2" left off. In the latter, former assassin John Wick had been approached by Italian crime lord Santino D'Antonio to assassinate his sister Gianna, so he can claim her seat at the "High Table", a council of 12 high-level crime lords. Although reluctant to complete the task, John is forced to accept D'Antonio's request since the latter had helped him with a task that allowed him to retire as an assassin and marry his late wife. However, Gianna committed suicide before John could kill her and D'Antonio put a contract on the former under the guise of "avenging his sister's death". Determined to get revenge for this betrayal, John pursued D'Antonio to the Continental Hotel, a refuge for the underworld's assassins where no "business" is allowed, and kills the Italian gangster. Because he had broken the hotel's "no killing" rule, John is declared "excommunicado" by his handlers at the High Table and placed under a $14 million bounty.
In this third film, John struggles to evade nearly every assassin, while he tries to retrieve a crucifix necklace and a "marker" medallion from a secret cache in a book at the New York City Public Library. He needs both items to present to the Director, a woman from his past, and use as a "ticket" for safe passage to Casablanca, Morocco. With the help of an old friend and fellow assassin named Sofia, John hopes to fend off other assassins long enough to reach the Elder of the "High Table" and find a way to call off the bounty. However, John eventually learns that he will have to pay a few steep prices to achieve his goal.
I wish I could say that I loved "JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM". Hell, I wish I could say that I loved all of the John Wick movies. But I did not. I merely liked them. What kept me from loving these three films? The level of action featured in them. "JOHN WICK 3" opened with the main protagonist leaving the Continental Hotel and making his way to the main New York Public Library in order to retrieve two objects that would help him leave the country. I do not know how long this sequence lasted, but it almost seemed like forever. Wick seemed to encounter one assassin after the other, city block after city block. Even when he reached the library, he had to fight off another assassin. Then he was forced to defend himself against more assassins as he struggled to reach the Director, a Russian-born who had raised him. There was such an overwhelming slew of action in this film that I was to appreciate the more dramatic moments with great relief. When I had asked one of my relatives on how she felt about the movie, her response was . . . "action porn". She liked the movie, but like me, found the amount of action in it rather overwhelming.
I honestly cannot think of anything else that turned me off about "JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM". Ironically, as much as I found the onslaught of action a bit off putting, there were a handful of scenes that I genuinely enjoyed, thanks to Chad Stahelski's direction. There were three sequences that stood out for me. One involved Wick's unexpected encounter with a rather large assassin inside the New York Library. His final fight against a New York City assassin named Zero and the latter's men at the New York Continental Hotel almost struck me as surreal. But if I had to select my favorite action sequence, it has to be his battle against a group of assassins in Casablanca, with the aide of his old friend, Sofia. Watching Keanu Reeves and Halle Barry fight side by side against a slew of killers proved to be more than satisfying for me. And exciting.
I also suspect that this deluge of action had allowed the film's five screenwriters to create a more streamlined narrative. Five screenwriters? This movie required five screenwriters? Anyway, one of the aspects of the John Wick films that I found refreshing is that the narratives for the three films were not repetitive. "JOHN WICK 3" marked the first time that the hero is forced to face the consequences of his actions. There is a reason why once or twice, a self-reflective Wick had to admit that he had brought his current crisis upon himself. More importantly, he also realized that his decision to become a professional assassin and criminal in the first place had brought him to this point in his life. In age in which the questionable decisions and actions of many protagonists in movies and television are either swept under the table or whitewashed, John Wick's self-reflection struck me as a breath of fresh air.
"JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM" featured some solid performances from its supporting cast. The likes of Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Jerome Flynn, Randall Duk Kim and Yayan Ruhian did not exactly blow my mind, but I found their performances impressive. Saïd Taghmaoui gave a brief, yet impressive performance as the Elder, leader of the High Table; whom John Wick struggles to reach to overturn the contract against him. Asia Kate Dillon was memorable as the Adjudicator, a member of the High Table who castigated both Winston and the Bowery King for helping Wick in the previous film. However, I thought her character seemed like a remake of the character she portrays on Showtime's "BILLIONS". Ian McShane was elegant and charismatic as ever as Winston, the manager of the Continental Hotel, who found himself in trouble for giving Wick a head start on the contract in the second film. Laurence Fishburne was equally charismatic as the New York crime lord known as the Bowery King. But unlike McShane, I also found his performance rather theatrical in an entertaining way. Halle Berry radiated charismatic, style and gravitas as an old friend of Wick named Sofia, who helps him reach the Elder. I really enjoyed both her dramatic and action scenes with the leading man. Speaking of the latter, Keanu Reeves was perfect, as usual as the ex-assassin John Wick. I think I enjoyed his performance in this film a bit more, due to the pathos he infused in scenes that featured Wick's self reflections about his profession and past.
In a nutshell, I would never regard "JOHN WICK: CHAPER 3 - PARABELLUM" as among the best action movies I have seen. Like the other movies in the JOHN WICK franchise, I thought it was over saturated with too many action sequences. But . . . the movie did feature a solid and well-written narrative that picked up from where the second movie in the franchise left off. More importantly, I was impressed that for once, the main protagonist was paying the consequences of his past actions. In the end, I thought director Chad Stahelski had delivered a solid and entertaining film with a talented cast led by Keanu Reeves.
