Movie Review: John Wick 3: Parabellum
This movie was fun but also disappointing. This is the weakest story of the three movies by far. We cheesily set up a female John Wick, complete with dog abuse motivation, only for her to disappear halfway through the movie. Halle Berry did great stunt work and was generally a welcome addition. I was though a little annoyed about how the film made a point of showing ‘consequences’ for everyone who helped Wick except her. Furthermore, Wick’s own character lacks coherence. What exactly are his values anyway? He spends two movies getting his friends in trouble for helping him, then agrees to betray them for his dead wife, then decides, “just kidding, totally willing to die for old man Winston now.” The film’s ending makes no sense. The more they go into the shadowy “High Table” secret assassin organization business, the dumber it gets. Less is more with that stuff.
Wick has basically become a comic book character. This explains why his outfit never changes (him walking in the desert in a suit is pretty funny though) and why villains refuse to kill him in spite of having numerous chances. You have to treat it like a video game — think of it like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden — and just enjoy the action. Just like John Wick 1 and 2, the action alone is worth the price of admission. Gun porn out the yin yang, lots of sexy reloading, and really really good hand-to-hand combat — probably the best in the series on that last point. It’s unfortunate how self-aware the series has become. It isn’t at Fast and Furious levels of self-parody, but it’s getting there. Here’s hoping they course correct if they really do decide to continue the franchise in some form. A lower key prequel could be amazing but unfortunately given this film’s ending we’ll probably get an even sillier John Wick 4.
Grade: C+
