Review: John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Watching John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum was such a treat. It has to be one best action/ martial arts films that I’ve seen for a while. In my opinion, John Wick 3 has outdone its predecessors and set up a need for the continuation of John’s story. I won’t spoil the entire story. But, minor plot points will be discussed below.

Minor spoils below

I will say that the adjudicator was the most annoying character in the movie. She represented the High Table for the duration of the film. I was waiting for her to get her comeuppance, but it never came. I’m sure she’ll pay a price in the next film.

Laurence Fishburn returned in this film as Bowery King and his charisma was cool and cocky as always. The adjudicator paid him a visit to judge him for helping John in the previous movie. He had a few parts, but his place in the film was definitely key and foreshadowed another sequel in the John Wick series as well.

Ian McShane also returned as Winston the manager of the New York Continental with Lance Riddick as Charon. I honestly did not see their heel turn coming. But after the adjudicator committed to taking the Continental away from Winston, a power play had to be made.

The best part of the film to me was the first act. We meet up with John 20 minutes before he is going to be excommunicated from the assassin community. He’s running around trying to tie up loose ends. It’s the audience and John until we’re interrupted by an assassin trying to jump the gun and claim the bounty early.

It’s non-stop fighting, non-stop action, and full of gasping moments that make you feel the pain John is inflicting on his enemies.

Eventually, John makes his way to his destination and meets up with a few old comrades. A few help him out of obligation and a few help him by force. But despite the High Table sending every assassin in New York City after him, John Wick makes it to Casablanca and pleads with the head above the High Table to spare his life. John ends up trusting someone he shouldn’t and it costs him big time.

I really enjoyed this film. Keanu Reeves and the rest of the cast must have been really committed during filming because I was able to suspend disbelief with no issues. A lot of times action films have something jarring happen that removes you from immersion. But, I was invested in the entire film.

Halle Barry and her puppies fit so well. It reminded me of a video game, John Wick being your player character and Sofia (Halle Barry) being the NPC that comes in super overpowered and with help from assassin dogs.

All of the fight scenes were so good and brutal. Marc Dacascos, known as Zero in the film, swapped between comedic, traditional, and serious attitudes seamlessly. He added a new dimension to the film that I was not expecting.

I was expecting to enjoy John Wick Chapter 3 – Parabellum and it fully exceeded my expectations. This film set up the continuation of the series without making it obvious from the beginning.