John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Written by: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Marc Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Houston, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Jerome Flynn, Laurence Fishburne, Cecep Arif Rahman, Yayan Ruhian, Saïd Taghmaoui, Randall Duk Kim, Margaret Daly, Tobias Segal, Boban Marjanovic, Unity Phelan
Action/Crime/Thriller - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 15 May 2019
Written by: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Marc Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Anjelica Houston, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Jerome Flynn, Laurence Fishburne, Cecep Arif Rahman, Yayan Ruhian, Saïd Taghmaoui, Randall Duk Kim, Margaret Daly, Tobias Segal, Boban Marjanovic, Unity Phelan
Action/Crime/Thriller - 130 min Reviewed by Charlie Juhl on 15 May 2019
Fans expect more from sequels. Sequels are usually green lit because the first one made money and the execs believe a second or third part will make even more. Perhaps even a franchise and spin-offs will emerge if the product really takes off. Hollywood loves sequels because they arrive with built-in audiences and there is no need to explain a concept from scratch and hope it catches on. 2014’s John Wick came out of nowhere to thrill movie-goers with an in-your-face, hyper-paced brand of action unusual for American cinema. Now that audiences had their first taste, John Wick: Chapter 2 upped the ante so John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum may seal the deal and set off an addictive spiral. The challenge with action sequels are they better exceed the previous installment in all facets including sets, stunts, and pure insanity. Chad Stahelski’s Parabellum checks all these off the list leaving audiences in dire need of their next John Wick hit as soon as the credits roll.
John Wick's world is so intriguing because many of us would like to visit it in real life. It is a combination of the world we know including cell phones, city streets, and a recognizable social stratification. There is also a sly medieval backbone running through it. The worldwide assassin’s organization operates through a 1930s looking bookie setup complete with rotary phones, a blackboard with the most current targets, and bureaucratic stamps and seals. The few computers hanging around are all 1980’s era Apple II knock-offs. Gold coins and markers are minted to facilitate a unique commerce and surrounding all of it are the code of honor and the rules governing underworld society. It is a society all its own because there are no meddlesome police officers or government officials around, even when the mayhem spills out the door and into the streets.
John Wick's world is so intriguing because many of us would like to visit it in real life. It is a combination of the world we know including cell phones, city streets, and a recognizable social stratification. There is also a sly medieval backbone running through it. The worldwide assassin’s organization operates through a 1930s looking bookie setup complete with rotary phones, a blackboard with the most current targets, and bureaucratic stamps and seals. The few computers hanging around are all 1980’s era Apple II knock-offs. Gold coins and markers are minted to facilitate a unique commerce and surrounding all of it are the code of honor and the rules governing underworld society. It is a society all its own because there are no meddlesome police officers or government officials around, even when the mayhem spills out the door and into the streets.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) broke the rules in Chapter 2 and now has a global $14 million bounty on his head. He is fair game for any guild member from the most elite sniper to the lowest gutter thug. John had his reasons for running afoul of the code, but extenuating circumstances matters not to The High Table, the heads of the assassin cabal who demand immediate and brutal satisfaction when a member dares step out of line. Picking up exactly where Chapter 2 left off, John Wick is given an hour’s head start before the label ‘excommunicado’ becomes official, and therefore, the bounty opens. He is already wounded from two films worth of butchery and physical violence no mere mortal could withstand.
Wick does not sport any observable superpowers; he must use his fists and any weapons within arm’s reach like the thousands of his enemies, but the man can take a beating. Observing the rule for sequels, Stahelski ups the frenzy through exotic locales and modes of transportation. In his quest to make amends and stay alive, John zips through famous New York City locales like Grand Central Terminal and the New York Public Library, and also spirits over to Morocco and even into the Sahara Desert. If John Wick turns into a James Bond sort of protagonist with that many films under his belt, I will not be surprised one bit when he winds up on the moon.
Helping John get from here to there are motorcycles, horses, and a duo of attack dogs. Naturally, each of these contraptions and animals participate in insane stunts and action set pieces meant to elicit audible “oohs” and “ahhs” from the audience. John battles a sword-wielding gang while zooming across a bridge via motorcycles, gallops down a city street shooting gangsters from atop a horse, and the dogs, specifically a pair of Belgian Malinois, tear chunks of flesh from very sensitive body parts of any man unfortunate enough to encounter their jaws. What makes John Wick films so popular with audiences is how these preposterous situations are shot. 99% of action films and their lazy directors would jump cut the action sequences to make it look impressive, but the audience cannot follow along with that editing pace. Everything blurs together into a mess and you can’t tell where the good guy is in relation to anything and how he succeeds in the fight. If you can't see it, then it doesn't have to make sense. Stahelski, and cinematographer Dan Laustsen, pull back and pan. They let the detailed choreography take over as we watch long scenes of John clear a room full of bad guys using pistols, swords, knives, and his bare hands.
Another piece which makes Parabellum the best John Wick film to date are the new supporting characters and the caliber of performance behind them. Leading the pack is Anjelica Huston who is the head of what appears to be the Russian mob. Known as The Director, she oversees the training of both young assassins and ballerinas in a martial arts and ballet school. With limited screen time, Huston injects a serious chill and mystery into the story hinting at John’s past and consequences to come. The other superstar standout is Asia Kate Dillon as The Adjudicator. The Adjudicator is judge and jury for those who break the code. Dillon, very reminiscent of their character in the Showtime series Billions, speaks in a stoic monotone of dead serious assurance and non-negotiable sentences. When The Adjudicator issues a threat, all know none of it is hyperbole. Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, and a gaggle of others combine to propel Stahelski’s vision, but Huston and Dillon are two characters worthy of their own films.
The toughest part to swallow for Parabellum is knowing we must wait at least two years for the next adventure - a gap which feels like forever since Stahelski is now more than adept at the concluding cliffhanger technique. To reach the end, however, there are moments when the relentless pace borders on monotony, especially during the climax as John works his way through a ninja clan in a maze of glass walls which means there is both nowhere to hide and confusing reflections to maneuver. Each fight is going to take a certain amount of minutes because Stahelski does not cheat and skip ahead and each iteration ends up being its own unique dance. Yet, the few toward the end are quite similar to one another and the adversary propped up as the final fight is more force-fed than an enemy John feels true animosity toward. But even a lackluster John Wick fight is superior to the best offering from most action films. John Wick does not speechify, and he rarely sits down to tell someone what he’s feeling, he just moves forward. The Baba Yaga (Boogeyman) does not need to explain himself, he’s doing what we all do, trying to get through another day.
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