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Director: Chad Stahelski

Writers: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten

Runtime: 2 hr 10 min

Main Cast:

• Keanu Reeves as John Wick
• Halle Berry as Sofia
• Ian McShane as Winston
• Laurence Fishburne as Bowery King
• Mark Dacascos as Zero
• Lance Reddick as Charon
• Anjelica Juston as The Director

Review by: Mia R

For at least ten years, Keanu Reeves has consistently provided fans with action films that break the mold on combat choreography, directing, and world building concepts. If we count the films like Speed and Pointbreak, that timeframe easily jumps to twenty years. Going back further, Keanu Reeves has undeniably established himself as an actor who knows how to choose breakthrough roles. With films like the Matrix Trilogy under his belt, it should be hard to say, but it isn’t: the John Wick Franchise is the crown jewel of Keanu Reeves’ career. While the Matrix Trilogy set the tone for cinematography from its very first film, the John Wick films epitomize years of refining for not only Keanu Reeves, but also Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. All three of these men evolved post-Matrix Trilogy to become the master artists when it came to stunt choreography/coordination, storytelling, and overall film performance. They came together and not only coordinated Derek Kolstad’s script, but directed the film in a way that enhanced the combat choreography so well that they once again broke the action-genre mold releasing John Wick in 2014. The first and second installations of the John Wick franchise delivered impressive cinematography when it came to action, choreography, and concept.

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The first installation of John Wick introduces us to the seasoned killer for hire after he has retired. He is grieving the loss of his beloved wife while tucked away in a very nice home with his dog and his favorite Mustang when a group of gangsters take an interest in stealing from him and ultimately kill his dog and disturbing his time of grief. Chaos ensues and we get to see who John Wick was before retiring. The world that he lived in is an underworld layered beneath our real one, where assassins have entire societies built around their business efforts, alliances, and politics. John Wick often visits the Continental, a “neutral ground” designed to allow contracted killers a safe haven between jobs or travel. The Continental is run by “The Table,” a mysterious organization with hotels, property, and sworn servants all across the world. In John Wick 2, we see John Wick pulled back into the underworld fully by a debt he owes to an Italian Crimelord. His fight to pay this debt and seek retribution against the sadist that he owes ultimately ends with him violating the sacred ground and neutrality of The Continental, a violation punishable by contracted killing. John Wick 2 ends with Wick on the run from every contracted killer involved in the underworld.

This is where John Wick: Parabellum (the third installation) picks up. John Wick is injured, on the run, with only an hour to get his affairs in order before the $14 million contract for his life is active. We watch him race across the city to prepare to defend himself from the dozens of assassins lurking in alleys, markets, and even cabs across the city. Minutes before his contract goes active, the first assassin decides to get the drop on Wick early, initiating the brutal violence that sustains the movie until the credits run. As John Wick desperately fights to survive the contract on his head, we are descended deeper into the underworld built over the first two movies, meeting hotel managers in other areas of the world, including Sofia (Halle Berry) who owes Wick a debt much like he owed the Italian Crimelord in John Wick 2. Wick continuously shows why he is considered a bogeyman even by the most talented in the contract killing business. He survives attacks all across the world from multiple crime communities. The audience gets to see a bit more of where Wick originated and what he has gone through in the past in order to fall from one of the most reputed contract killers to the highest auctioned contract “under The Table.” Trailers show us Sofia and Wick fighting killers with her trained dogs and Wick doing what Wick does best (exemplify the Directorial creativity of Chad Stahelski and David Leitch).

What I Liked:

“Si vis pacem, para bellum” –  “If you want peace, prepare for war.”

With the success of the first two installations within the John Wick trilogy, I was confident that Parabellum would only be more action, chaos, and pure cinematic ingenuity. Parabellum did not disappoint. From the first five minutes of the film, you are flinching with every blow and shouting with every close call. Every stunt, every gunshot, and every wound draw you further in until you aren’t sure whether John Wick even has an ending he can look forward to. Even still, you know he is going out swinging and taking at least a few dozen contracted killers with him. The desperation in every fight for Wick is fluid. One moment he is stumbling trying to tend to a wound and the next he is taking out three attackers with a horse he stumbled across in a barn in the middle of a metropolis.

Reeves, Stahelski, and Leitch hold nothing back when choreographing fight scenes. Not only are they going for the most authentic and creative combat sequences, they utilize seasoned stunt actors throughout the film. Several times, I felt myself recognizing actors from Martial Arts films released in Asia such as Raid Redemption. There isn’t a single fight sequence that doesn’t stir exclamations from the audience. Knife fights, gunfights, dog fights, horse fights, swordfights… the film is packed with action and talent. Even with so much combat, you still get to watch the story develop. Wick is in trouble, The Continental is under investigation for allowing him to kill on site, the Bowery is indicted by an Adjudicator (some sort of contract killer/secret society auditor) who considers them equally responsible for allowing Wick to kill on Continental grounds. The fate of every character that we have met up until Parabellum is now at stake. Some are sentenced to death, others sentenced to maiming, others commanded to step down and allow the punishment of Wick and the retribution desired by The Table. The story remains compelling as the audience waits to find out how Wick’s contract will change things for the entire underworld.

Sofia’s team of dogs and her petty attitude carry a large part of the beginning of the film, propelling Wick into a chaotic fight to find the leader of The Table in order to have the contract on his life removed. The dogs are fatal soldiers in a fight to escape an entire lair of killers kicked off by the near death of one of the dogs in the first place. The moment where the dog almost dies is compelling on its own. I find myself wondering how they managed to make the moment look so realistic without actually hurting the animal. I respect Halle Berry’s dedication to the role, having trained for six months to learn martial arts and also to command the dogs during their role in the film.

The main antagonists of this film constantly shift between the Adjudicator, her hired hand and leader of a school of Japanese Ninja Assassins: Zero, and anyone else fighting to maintain their life and role in the underworld at the expense of Wick’s life. As a result, the audience is constantly compelled by the threats to Wick’s future and to the underworld as we know it. All you begin to do is hope that Wick doesn’t run out of bullets and knives before things turn in his favor. Even by the end of the film, this hope doesn’t change. The Continental Staff remain likeable characters just as developed as Wick in this installation of the franchise, pushing you to root for them just as much as you root for Wick, even when they aren’t on his side.

As the chaos develops, lines begin to form in the sand where allegiances naturally follow. First, the underworld was united under the authority of The Table, but as Wick fights and others must strategize to live and retain power, factions split to preserve their own desired outcomes with Wick at the center. This infighting is interesting because it makes Wick’s efforts more believable. He isn’t really fighting alone, he is just the game-changer in every fight that he goes into.

What I Didn’t Like:

Sofia’s character was the least understandable part of Parabellum. While she falls right in line as an ass kicking contract killer who means business, her attitude towards Wick comes off as superficial. While it is obvious that some bad blood between them leaves her constantly hateful of Wick, this bad blood is never fleshed out. Instead, we are given a back story where he saves the thing that she cares the most about in the world and as a result, she owes him a debt that she now resents having to fulfill. Sure, resent getting pulled into the greatest contract to ever occur in our witnessing of the underworld of The Table. Possibly even be a woman scorned by the necessity of having to use Wick to save what you care about most in this world. How do these two things create the fierce hatred we see portrayed by Halle Berry in Parabellum, however? All that said, the resentful and petty character is still enjoyable to watch juxtaposed beside Reeves’ always composed John Wick. Normally, Wick is the most intimidating energy in the room. You get to see him feel intimidated, or at least humbled, for once.

Through all the chaos, all the deaths, and all the wounds incurred by Wick, this film ends right where it started. Dozens and dozens of minor characters/killers die just to leave us wondering how many more Wick will have to kill before he can leave the underworld once again and retire to cry in the bathtub about his beloved wife while his adorable puppy watches. I wanted to see John Wick come out the King of the Underworld or relax into a chair covered in blood ready to start his life as a pet store owner in Virginia. Silly me. This is John Wick, the bogeyman of the underworld, destined to keep killing until he dies or eliminates every contract and contractor in the underworld. This wouldn’t be so hard to accept if he had made any real change to the state of his allegiances in the film. Faction alliances are unstable, constantly shifting, and ultimately putting Wick back into a doomed fight for his life and freedom with no hint how it will play out. I want that hint! Instead, the admittedly compelling cliffhanger that wraps up this film leaves me feeling like no real progress was made even though Wick probably killed 100 people to get nowhere.

Images Courtesy of IMDB