A huge reason this series has always been successful is thanks to the quality of its action. Directed by Chad Stahelski, who was Reeves' stunt double in the Matrix trilogy, these movies have always favored traditional, on set choreography and in camera effects, which is sorely needed at a time where CGI is often relied on as an easy out. The revenge stories may be the main connecting tissue, but the action beats are where a lot of the real meat is. Knowing this, this third chapter doesn't even wait to pit you into the chaos, for an opening thirty minutes that had me hooked.
We pick up seconds after the ending of Chapter 2, with John having been declared excommunicado, and on the run for whatever essentials he can muster before the knives come out (literally). Waiting for his hour-long head-start to run out, the movie drips with tension and atmosphere, as it feels like every eye in New York is on him, and anyone could be ready to take his head off. Then when the clock runs out, it's no holds barred, as we're thrust into wall-to-wall action as John scrambles to escape, horridly maiming everyone eager to claim the prize money.
Any number of the action sequences in this movie could be considered the highlight of any other action film, and they're all jam-packed into this one. The opening thirty minutes alone have some great beats with brutal kills, including a frenzied game of throwing knives, and a stable brawl that then leads to John shooting hitmen on horseback. But the big hits don't stop there, as when the film makes a detour to Casablanca, where John is joined by old ally Sofia (a ferocious Halle Berry), the film hits its peak with an extended shootout against waves of shooters, with Sofia's attack dogs serving as recon and strikers, using their limbs as chew toys. Picking up in the final act, we also have a killer chase on motorbike with swords, and a raid sequence where John must overpower the guard of the High Table. And those are just the big set-pieces, as even when the action takes extended breaks, the intensity and tension does not let up, and the film gets surprisingly brutal as its violent body count starts rising, balancing out severity and crowd-pleasing beat-em-ups in the way that something like The Raid never achieved with me.
This is mainly off the back of the returning Reeves, who with these movies has turned in some of the finest work of his career. We already know what a dedicated physical performer he can be, throwing himself into the thick of the stuntwork without a second thought, and that dedication to his craft really shows off in the extended fight scenes, especially for the most wince-inducing of stab wounds and punches. But there's also so much character and soul he infuses into it, even when he's mercilessly flinging knives into his pursuers, as the full effects of his desperation and the loss he's accumulated takes its toll, almost making us question "was the puppy really worth all this?" He feels devastated even when he doesn't show it, and that forged connection with him grounds the film through even its wildest feats, even with what a dangerous individual he is.
That said, as the series has gone on, the actual story links have gotten more impersonal in their stakes and consequence. As they've gone on, John's prior debts and his fight for survival feels less engaging than the simple conceit of revenge for his dog. The filmmakers have tried to turn the series into an epic that I don't think it can sustain, especially in regards to the world building. I think there's only so much mileage that can be mined from the world of John Wick, as it does start to feel repetitious in how it covers the various facets of the underground assassin world, and in some cases actually gets murky in how it contradicts some of its own established laws. John is excommunicado, but Continental managers can still offer him amnesty. There's also no killing permitted on Continental grounds, but then Asia Kate Dillon's icy Adjudicator scolds Winston - Ian McShane clearly having a blast - for not killing John on sight.
There are other side effects that come with the film's focus on world building, namely the underuse of various characters. While Mark Dacascos' Zero, the main assassin trailing John and a humorous fanboy of his history, is great and makes for a genuinely imposing match for him, it really could have benefited from Halle Berry staying around longer, as she completely exits the film following the stint in Casablanca (and it feels like this could be setting up her own spin-off), a section which retroactively feels slightly pointless in the grand scheme of the narrative. Laurence Fishburne's Bowery King also barely features in this movie, as does Anjelica Huston as a Russian syndicate director. On top of some notable absences of past characters, one gets the feeling that the film feels somewhat incomplete.
And there's a reason for that. I believed going in that this was going to be the final film. It isn't, as the movie ends leaving several threads dangling for a fourth entry, and a potential war between assassins (Parabellum is actually Latin for "Prepare for war"). That did leave a sour taste in my mouth in spite of how strong the film was, and I really don't know if the series has that kind of momentum left.
But for whatever problems the world-building opened up, I still greatly enjoyed taking in Parabellum. They may not be masterclasses in storytelling, but when it comes to delivering brutal and exhilarating set-pieces, the John Wick movies some of the finest action flicks of this decade. There's so much dedication put into these movies and their stunts, I don't even care how much they overindulge in their stories, and I'm just along for the ride. They've been truly satisfying actioners, and with this series, Keanu Reeves has found his own Mission: Impossible.
***1/2 / *****
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