My Review of "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum"

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is a movie that I wanted to watch but I also didn't want to watch at the same time. I loved the first two John Wick movies but the second movie ended on such a dire situation. It was so crazy that I didn't think anything could be done to the third one that would help John Wick get out of his horrible predicament without seeming absolutely absurd. I sort of wanted to end my memories of John Wick with the second one because I wanted to remember him on a high point. I eventually caved in after some coaxing from friends.

This movie starts out immediately after the events of the second movie. John is about to become excommunicado. Winston had given him some time to escape before a huge bounty was put on his head and assassins from all over would come after him. He's already injured and trying to figure out what to do next.

Fortunately for John he has a lot of contingency plans in case such a crazy situation should happen to him. He's pretty much cashing in on all of the favors that he had in the past regardless of the dangers it takes to get to his old friends. Still as the viewers we don't really have a clear cut understanding what his ultimate goal is.

As the story progresses we start to learn how the mysterious High Table organization works. So there's even more to expand on the world that they had started to build in the second movie.

The movie is still consistent with a lot of the rules that we've seen in the previous two movies. It's nice to see that there's still honor among all of the assassins regardless of their underhanded ways. Still I find it a little weird that all of these assassins are so honorable and rule following despite being so conniving and corrupt people. You see one bad apple but I kind of expected more.

When John finally runs out of time and becomes excommunicado things go from zero to a hundred real quick. There is action scene after action scene and they don't get boring. I would have thought the first two movies couldn't be topped but they were able to push the envelope. They were able to make these action scenes so gruesome and visceral that you can feel the impact of all the blows the characters feel during the movie. Some of these scenes aren't for the faint of heart. I have to admit some of the deaths had me wincing and looking away. Who am I kidding I couldn't really look away. It's like watching a train-wreck and I was like a doe lost in headlights.

This goes on for the majority of the movie but there is the addition of some comical scenes. The movie is pretty self aware of itself. John's legendary status is spread to even the villains of the movie and they look at him as their hero. Some of the scenes had me laughing out loud and I was worried that it would take me away from the movie and lose the John Wick feel. In a way it sort of did but it was also a welcome addition at the same time.

If anything this John Wick movie was more of an evolution to the franchise much how the Fast and Furious franchise movie had switched from a heist racing movie to an all out zany action movie. It kind of feels like the old revenge John Wick movie is dead and it's gone to this semi serious movie with over the top action. It's still very much an enjoyable movie but it's very different from the first movie. There has definitely been an evolution to the franchise.

This is kind of crazy because they remind you in this movie that all of the events between the first movie to this movie is all within a span of one week. So it's kind of understandable how they've made this movie so outrageous because no human could possibly live through what John has. They've even added some supernatural skills to John that help us grasp the fact that he can do some of the crazy things he does.

Also this movie ends off with a huge cliffhanger that makes us have to wait for a fourth movie. Earlier on I had thought that this would be the last John Wick movie and that was partially a reason why I hadn't seen it for so long. I got wind of the fact that there is a fourth movie coming. My friends had also been going on and on about how good the movie is so I had to take the plunge.

Overall, I had a blast watching this movie. It's a far cry from what it was originally with the first movie but that's not a bad thing. I like the direction of the movie even though it's gotten a bit on the silly side. I have to give this movie a 9 out of 10. This might be crazy to say but I think I like this movie better than the second movie and I can't wait for the fourth to come out. Fantastic job, its very rare that a third movie can outdo the second movie.