Film Review: John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Why reinvent the wheel when there is already a formula that works perfectly? That seems to have been the thinking of the producers, writers and director of John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum, the third instalment in one of today’s rare—yet also rarely successful—action film franchises.

After Keanu Reeves shone in the first film as a largely silent but almost supernaturally efficient professional assassin who ruthlessly takes on hordes of criminals, the second film established the basic plot, which essentially boils down to him switching from hunter to hunted—meaning at least half the film is spent fleeing from his fellow assassins, motivated both by the legendary bounty on his head and by the chance to claim the top spot in the global hierarchy of professional killers by eliminating Wick.

For the third film, the only task left was to devise some way of stretching that premise to the routine two hours required for today’s blockbuster, and to pack in at least somewhat original content when it comes to the armed clashes or the exotic settings in which they take place.

The trio of writers who joined original creator Derek Kolstad for Parabellum found a simple solution to the cliffhanger that ended the previous film. The story picks up about an hour after the events of the last film—just as John Wick finds himself out in the cold. Thanks to his impulsive elimination of the main villain, not only has he brought armies of top assassins down on his own head, but he has also become “excommunicado”; in the jargon of the criminal underworld, a persona non grata who can no longer count on anyone’s help, whether it be for hiding, procuring weapons and other equipment, or treating the wounds that are inevitable even for a fighter as experienced and efficient as him.

A frenzied race for survival through the streets of New York leads Wick to an unusual school whose director (Anjelica Huston) agrees to help him get to Casablanca. There, however, he turns for help to an old acquaintance, Sofia (Halle Berry), the manager of the local Continental Hotel, who directs him towards the mysterious Elder who controls the criminal world. There he will receive an offer of clemency—but on condition that he once again puts his lethal skills at the service of the criminals, this time against people who are his friends and whom he cares about.

As in the previous films, director Stahelski is acutely aware that Keanu Reeves’s acting abilities are, to put it mildly, not Oscar‑calibre, so insisting on any kind of lengthy dramatic scenes would only induce yawns or discomfort when compared with his far more talented colleagues—including genuine “Oscar‑winners” such as Halle Berry and Anjelica Huston.

As a former stuntman, Stahelski devoted far more attention to devising as spectacular and memorable fight scenes as possible—scenes that must be lengthy but not monotonous, and which must keep viewers glued to the screen regardless of the fact that the outcome of every clash is, given the nature of the franchise and the main character, known in advance.

Stahelski and his team carried out that task in an exceptionally impressive way, creating a series of sequences in which fights unfold in various exotic locations or even more exotic interiors, and in which a range of weapons are used, from improvised to the most sophisticated.

Throughout, care was also taken with casting, so among Wick’s fierce and quite dangerous opponents appears a character portrayed in his acting debut by Serbian basketball player Boban Marjanović. Most engaging proved to be Mark Dacascos, once a major action star, who plays Zero, the chief and seemingly invincible executor who will not only be a worthy opponent for Wick, but also bring a touch of humour—something the film sometimes lacks—through his lines. Zero also surrounds himself with an impressive retinue of pupils, one of whom is played by Yayan Ruhian, an Indonesian martial‑arts master known for his role in what is now the cult film The Raid.

John Wick: Chapter 3 is, of course, far from perfect. That can be seen in several unnecessary scenes and shots, especially right at the beginning when, just before the termination order comes into force, there is an overly artificial attempt to show the trouble John Wick has landed himself in.

Some of the lines delivered by otherwise excellent actors Lance Reddick and Ian McShane are not the most best written, and even the showdown in the Continental Hotel at the very start feels too much like “déjà vu”. The scenes in which Asia Kate Dillon appears as a kind of mafia bureaucrat also take up too much time.

An even worse impression is created by the relentless cliffhanger that, in an effort to secure a sequel, expends a seemingly “shocking” twist at the end. Still, whether it is formulaic or not, John Wick: Chapter 3 delivers solid entertainment.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

(Note: The text in the original Croatian version was posted here.)

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