John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Review

May 17, 2019 at 6:12pm
By Jason Stettner

There’s something delightful about this franchise, you know what to expect going in and are never disappointed. That’s continued here with the third entry titled John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. The events of this film take place right after the second chapter and the whole series basically feels like one streamlined event. This is great as no time is wasted in explaining the situation as we know this character and are confident with the world they’ve been building.

It’s subtle, but they continue to expand that world with various new locations and characters. It’s a dynamic web of individuals and it features a system that’s built upon core fundamentals. You see those explored without directly spending too much time on them, this is great. It feels like one awesome adrenaline filled ride that’s backed by gorgeous cinematography. The combative sequences are deadlier than before and unique this time around. They’re very creative with the fight scenes and it’s also backed by a stunning location.

This time around there are even some small segments with a new and deadly individual. This being Sofia (Halle Berry) that clearly has a history with the lead due to their past work, she’s tough and fits well here which I hadn’t expected. Don’t expect her to play a massive role in this however.

Keanu Reeves once again delivers perfectly as the legendary John Wick. He really nails this role being a nice mix of tough, focused and at the same time somewhat emotional. The action here is fantastic, it looks great and feels visceral.

You never know what’s going to happen when the characters enter a scene, but it’s always a blood bath which is great. It’s what you expect and that works here entirely. It was just one long segment of conflict with small bits of calm to build tension towards the next battle. There were some laughs as well, a nice mix here that will always keep you guessing. You may expect the action to feel similar to the last one, but it truly is a whole different beast.

The Conclusion

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum brings impactful action being an adrenaline filled thrill ride throughout its entirety. It also looks simply stunning while at the same time and just carries such a unique style of conflict, its delightful. I personally thought the last chapter had more of an interesting dynamic between loyalties, and while that’s carried forward here I’m not sure it was quite as deep. I still loved this, it was exactly what I needed at this moment and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Keanu Reeves just nails this role so perfectly and it looks like this is an ideal character for him. These adventures have been fun and it’s great to see a sense of actual pain being conflicted for this guy to power through as best he can. The use of the environment, bodies and just weapons in general is a pleasure to witness. This was very good, and just a great time. If you’ve liked the other ones then this is just a great way to wrap up this trilogy of dangerous situations that started due to one dog.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum Review at Theater with AVX Viewing

Rating Overall: 8.5