When I had got out of the theatre after ‘John Wick 2’, I
thought it was a very good way to end the movie and the series – putting the
titular assassin in a seemingly impossible situation from which to get himself
out of, but knowing what he’s capable of, the viewers could very well assume he’d
make it out ok. They could fill the gaps without necessarily seeing how far
things would go, and in most cases, the filmmakers would find it difficult to
top anything the viewers could imagine. And boy, was I wrong!! Keanu Reeves,
Chad Stahelski and the rest of the cast and crew have gone far beyond anything I
could have imagined – they have upped the stakes, delved deeper into the world
of the assassins, all the while not taking their foot off the gas when it comes
to pure action and thrills.
‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’ (JW3) picks up immediately
after the events of the previous movie (so if you haven’t seen the first two
movies, firstly – shame on you; and secondly – you need to watch the first two
movies to make sense of the proceedings here), with John Wick (Keanu Reeves)
being given a one-hour head-start before being declared excommunicado, and
being placed under a $14 million bounty. As he escapes from a hoard of assassins
in amazing action sequences that constantly push the bar, John navigates through
various facets of the assassins world, including a New York theatre which is a
training centre for the assassins and the Casablanca branch of the Continental
hotel, before returning back to New York and the Continental where it all
started. Meanwhile, an adjudicator for the High Table (Asia Kate Dillon),
punishes all those who have helped John, including Winston (Ian McShane) and
the Bowery King (Lawrence Fishbourne), by employing a league of ninja assassins
headed by Zero (Mark Dacascos).
The greatest strength of JW3, like its predecessors, is the
action and how far the imagination goes to create amazing action sequences and
set pieces. These translate well to the big screen, and I highly recommend that
you watch it in a movie theatre. The movie definitely goes bigger and bolder, using
everything at hand – from books, horses, motorbikes, dogs and swords. It is a
special treat for action fans to see some of the cast members of ‘The Raid:
Redemption’ and ‘The Raid: Berandal’ – especially ‘Mad Dog’ Yayan Ruhian – and
they have some brilliantly choreographed sequences as well. Halle Berry also
has a great action sequence, and she definitely rises to the occasion. Mark Dacascos’s
Zero is also a worthy opponent to John Wick. But of course, it is Keanu Reeves
as the Baba Yaga who is the biggest draw, and he does not disappoint. He
embodies the “focus, commitment and sheer will” of John, as he fights one horde
of baddies after another. One of the key reasons the character is so endearing
and we root for him at every moment is that each battle takes a lot out of him,
and each kill is hard earned. Full credit to the entire crew on the amazing stunt
choreography and sheer audacity of the action.
The movie also expands on the world it teased in the first
movie and showed us more of in the second one. There are a lot of sequences
designed to give us more insight into the shady underworld dealings – the problem
here is that the sequences, while bringing a sense of history and lore to the world
it builds, can tend to be long and cause the movie to feel bloated. Not a major
complaint, but as more of the machinations of the underworld are revealed, the
aura of mystery that was so appealing in the first movie tends to fade away. In
fact, the only remotely legitimate complaint I can bring up about JW3 is the
length – it could have been a bit shorter.
That being said, any action movie fan worth his or her salt should
definitely watch all the movies of the ‘John Wick’ franchise. ‘JV3’ is a worthy
addition to the franchise – it keeps the essence of its predecessors while
upping the ante in every way possible. I don’t think I need to say more to
convince you to watch this one.
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