John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum continues to expand the action and high stakes of a New York City run by assassins and dog-murderers. The third installment of this series is surprisingly not the last, but after watching two hours of gun fights and dogs taking down henchmen, I am all in for the next installment. The production and direction of these films take no shortcuts in its attempt to create the best action-choreography series of all time.

The “Gun-Fu” is fantastic. You can tell the hours of work and practice put into every scene, and the amount of humor injected through the fighting really helps bring out the moments of fun. Each team of assassins sent to take out John Wick has their own style of fighting, especially at the end, when he has to learn their style wave after wave before testing what he observed as he faces against the assassins’ teacher. That attention to style really brings out the detail of this world, which is already packed to the ceiling with its impressive set design. The world of John Wick is fully brought to life in this film, which bleeds into the uniqueness of its characters.

Looking at the story as an evolution of set pieces and fight scenes, it masters efficiency with a surprisingly organic plot. What could have been a quick, easy set up for each moment of action, this film dedicates itself to keeping its quality consistent throughout. The characters are very strong and intriguing, shifting the usual perception of the regular monotone, cold antagonist with a strange and fascinated fan of John Wick, who continually tests his idol and compares himself to the legend. Each character has their own way of pushing the story into their control, but for many of them, this film is just the beginning of their arcs.

Each organization of assassins in New York has a place in this story, and their leaders offer small pieces of John Wick’s past that end up pulling them into his struggle. I loved every character in this film, even though there was little development in their arcs. What I expected was the end of an action-trilogy with this film, but what I got was the beginning of an unexpected series. Every character introduced has a past with John Wick, and it is when they help him when they are forced into the story that is continuing into the next film. Through the gunfire and smoke, there are dominos being placed throughout the story for each character, leading to the big moment that will be coming in the next installment, and I cannot wait for it to come out. What is given may be brief in character and development, but it made me want more. Instead of satisfying me with the end of a trilogy, this film’s introduction of more characters has made me more excited and hyped for a continuation than any other action series I have seen.

Overall, the people behind these films—stuntmen that aspired to be directors and producers—have pushed american-action-cinema to be real competition against films like The Raid: Redemption, so much so that the actors from The Raid films had a prominent cameo in an entire fight scene in this film. John Wick 3 knows exactly what it is—and the potential it has to break the mold of american-cinema. It achieves the hardest goal for every franchise forced out of a stand alone hit: it keeps every minute fresh and never lets the story or the characters be forgettable.

Story Rating: 9/10

Character Rating: 7/10