Movie Review: John Wick - Chapter 3: Parabellum

Stars: 2 out of 5

Pros: Attempts to weave the action together with a story

Cons: Overly violent with cardboard characters

The Bottom Line:

More violence here

Some story elements that

Don’t really work out

Action Has Consequences

My first thought after watching the second part of the John Wick franchise was that I was done.  But then, I spotted John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum on TV.  By that point, I was curious enough to see what happened in part 3 to record it.  Besides, the price was right.  While it was better than the second movie, I’m still scratching my head over how this franchise has fans.

This movie picks up at some point after the second one.  We’re supposed to think it is immediately after, but it has to be a few hours at least since it finds John Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run in the dark and the rain while the previous movie ending during daylight.  Anyway, he is trying to get some help into place before the target that The Table has placed on him goes into full effect.  Will he get the help he needs to survive the run of assassins targeting him?  And what might the consequences be for those who do decide to help him?

I will say that this movie was slightly better than the previous one.  While the action was still over the top, it wasn’t non-stop.  Attempts were made to give the story a plot.  I’m not saying the plot was good or made sense.  Seriously, what are these characters thinking?  Considering what The Table wants from people, why wouldn’t people run away from it given the chance?  But obviously, that’s just me being a normal human being, I guess.

And maybe that’s part of why I feel the characters are still paper thin.  Yes, there is some attempt to develop them, but it mostly falls flat for me.  It’s either cliched development, or it just doesn’t work like it is supposed to.

Part of that is Keanu Reeves’s fault.  He gets the most character development, which makes sense because he is the main character.  But his wooden acting makes those scenes laughable.  I’m a little surprised at some of the other actors here.  We’ve got the likes of Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne, Angelica Houston, and Hallie Berry.  Their acting is fine, but they aren’t given much to work with.

If you are looking for impossible action, this movie is for you.  While it isn’t as relentless as the previous movie, there are still plenty of action scenes.  You have to suspend lots of disbelief to go along with what is happening here, more so than most action movies, but there are some moments that are still fun.  But the improbability of it all gets to even the biggest fans after a while.

And yes, the movie is still excessively violent.  There are lots of scenes that I cringed away from as I was watching, even when airing on TV.  Know that going in.  I did appreciate the good editing of the foul language in the version I watched.  You could usually still tell what was taken out, but it was much more subtle than normal.  And, it wasn’t as much as I was expecting.  Or I missed the edits.

Honestly, there’s really still no need to start this franchise.  John Wick: Chapter 3 has little to redeem it.  This isn’t a franchise worth spending any time on.