Review: John Wick 3 – Parabellum

Starting with the main question I’ve gotten for this film. Do I need to see JW part 1 and 2 to watch 3? The short answer, is not really. The long answer is, there are many plot points that matter to understand the character, the people involved and the whole underworld these killers live in. With that being said, you can still enjoy the non-stop shoot-em-up insanity that is John Wick 3 without the extra baggage of a coherent plot.

For those who did watch John Wick uno and dos, let me expand into tres. In the last chapter, we left John running for his life after making an emotional choice to kill a man that did him wrong. This led to his removal from the grace that the worldwide crime syndicate was lending him. With little time before his contract came up, Mr. Wick took to running before the gunning began.

And that is where we find him, mere seconds after we left him, running in the rain and furiously thinking on which of his bad options he would partake. As we follow his journey, the enigma that is John Wick starts to unfold with bits and pieces of his history coming into the light. Favors are asked, oaths are fulfilled and many many people are killed.

Will John Wick survive…I mean, the name of the main character is John Wick, so a little hint there. It’s not called, who’s the dead guy over there that looks like Keanu Reeves? Anyone that doesn’t get this, probably worries that John McClane is finally going to “Die Hard”. But enough of my critic rant.

I’ll be a straight shooter with you on this one. Lots of fun, running and killing across the streets of New York and alternate locations. From the get-go, we get reintroduced to John Wick’s style of kill everything, then kill it again approach. Some fun highlights include new co-stars Halle Berry as an old friend and Mark Dacascos, a happy-go-lucky martial arts hitman.

Most of the first 20 mins of this film had me swearing or sucking in breath through my teeth as the bad guy body count kept rising. And while this film and its abundance of action was fun, it did seem a little out of sync or perhaps slower. The pacing seemed to be off, just a bit. It is the same director, so I’ll need some feedback to figure it out.

In a world where every item is a weapon and no one passes away in blissful sleep, John Wick 3 is a straight-forward bloody-good time. If you want that, then enjoy yourself and make sure to give a round of applause for the countless stunt people involved. If you want an in-depth story or character development, perhaps it is time to go over what else is playing in the theater tonight.

Grade: B
Running Time: 2hr 10m
MPAA Rating: R