The latest installment in the unexpectedly solid John Wick franchise is exactly what you’d expect: more of the same. Now, is more of the same a good or a bad thing? Did you like the first two John Wick films? Then it’s safe to say you’ll like this one. Did you not care about, or not watch, either of the previous two films? This probably isn’t the place to start. That said, I fall squarely into the former category, and, as you may expect, I had a ball of a time here.
At its core, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a phenomenally choreographed action movie with some breathtaking visuals. This franchise is the pillar for what a modern action film should look like, second only to the Mission: Impossible franchise for best action movie franchise in Hollywood today, (sorry, James Bond / Fast and Furious). At its core is its heart-stopping fight sequences. These sequences showcase the very best of what Hollywood can do in 2019, with cinematography that actually allows you to see the action unfold. Who knew doing something as simple as shooting your action sequences with as few cuts as possible and giving us wide shots so we can see everything would make such a huge difference, but that’s why someone like me (who couldn’t care less about the John Wick lore at this point) keeps coming back to this franchise. In a post-Bourne Identity world, where so much of what’s considered “action films” is inhibited by Marvel doing whatever they feel like with whatever budget they want, few franchises pay this close attention to detail while making every cent of their production budget count.
That said, the budget of this film clearly went to the stunts and action sequences, because the lore continues to be completely uninteresting to me. Sadly, much of the second act of this film investigates said lore of this franchise, and for people like myself who don’t care it was very boring. On a surface level the lore is interesting, but it contorts itself to service the protagonist John Wick at every turn, which makes it ridiculous and unbelievable.
Keanu Reeves’s portrayal of John Wick has lost the pizzazz it once had, an unfortunate result of the fact that there’s now three of these films. Long gone are the iconic lines of previous installments.
However, that’s a rather marginal complaint for the film and franchise. After all, you come for the breathtaking action sequences and tolerate the lore as a trade-off. Because of how much time this film spends on its lore, I don’t think Parabellum will do a good job bringing in new fans, (start with John Wick: Chapter 2 if you’re new to the franchise), but for those who are already dug in, Parabellum delivers exactly what you’re looking for: mesmerizing action scenes with a mediocre story as the backdrop.
