JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (2019) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

john wick: chapter 3 - parabellum (2019) movie

Genre              |   Action Thriller

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   131 minutes

Released         |   16 May 2019

cast

Keanu Reeves ... John Wick
Halle Berry ... Sofia
Ian McShane ... Winston
Laurence Fishburne ... Bowery King
Anjelica Huston ... The Director
​Lance Reddick ... Charon

director

Chad Stahelski

writer

​Derek Kolstad ... (screenplay by) and
Shay Hatten ... (screenplay by) and
Chris Collins ... (screenplay by) &
Marc Abrams ... (screenplay by)
 
Derek Kolstad ... (story by)
 
Derek Kolstad ... (based on characters created by)

cinematographer

​Dan Laustsen

music

​Tyler Bates
Joel J. Richard

film editor

Evan Schiff

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box office result

Worldwide               $? million

Australia                 $? million

North America        $? million

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the best dialogue

Winston: Jonathan, what have you done?

Winston:What do you need?
John Wick: Guns, lots of guns.

Winston: Would you help set the mood for our new guest?
Charon: Let us begin.

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movie minutiae

"Guns. Lots of Guns." (From the trailer) The same line used by Neo (Keanu Reeves) in THE MATRIX (1999).

This film reunites former MATRIX cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Tiger Hu Chen, and Randall Duk Kim (The Keymake from THE MATRIX RELOADED). John Wick trilogy director Chad Stahelski also served as the Martial Arts stunt coordinator for THE MATRIX trilogy as well as Keanu Reeves' stunt double.

​The title "Parabellum" comes from the Latin phrase: "Si vis pacem, para bellum" which means "If you want peace, prepare for war." It is also an alternate name for the ubiquitous 9mm handgun cartridge ("9mm Parabellum").

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related movies

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2 (2017)

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (2019) MOVIE IMAGES

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JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (2019) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Legendary hit man John Wick must fight his way out of New York when a $14 million contract on his life makes him the target of the world's top assassins.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM (2019) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 16 May 2019

Pop ​Movee Rating

Anyone who doesn’t know what they’re getting into when they buy a ticket to the third JOHN WICK movie shouldn’t be offended by the insane amount of gratuitous violence that has become the defining characteristic of this Keanu Reeves Action Thriller series of movies...

For those who have come to love this series, it will be joy to their ears to know that Director Chad Stahelski and John Wick franchise scribe Derek Kolstad (along with a team of supporting writers) have come up with yet another variation on the theme they established when JOHN WICK first made its way into cinemas back in 2014.

Unlike the first movie, JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM no longer has the element of surprise working in its favour, but that doesn’t mean viewers won’t find themselves lifting off their seats throughout the myriad of on-screen mayhem throughout the film’s 131 minute running time. Surprisingly, the run time feels far less, as the story moves along at a fair rate of knots in order to cover off the dangling plot threads left from the second movie…

At the end of JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 2, the Assassin who just won’t die has a little under an hour to find safe haven before a $14 million bounty kicks in and every Hitman for hire in New York is on his trail.

PARABELLUM picks up where the second film left off and, even before the one hour moratorium has expired, Wick finds himself battling opportunistics colleagues looking to cash in early.

The film’s first fight scene takes place in the New York Public Library, where Wick heads to collect a number of items important to his long-term welfare. There, he is confronted by giant Assassin Ernest, played by NBA Basketballer 7 foot 3 inch Boban Marjanovic. The film’s tone is set early as Wick despatches with Ernest in one of the most unique ways ever committed to film…

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM feels as though it is the most violent film in the series by far, but it is also, at various points, is absurdly, darkly comic. The manner in which Wick kills anyone who gets in his road is so over-the-top that the violence feels like it’s been dragged from the page of a graphic novel and thrown up on the screen in all its exaggerated, bloody glory and the viewer has no option but to scoff with laughter at the audacity of what they’re seeing.

Parallel to Wick’s story runs a secondary plot dealing with the consequences for those who have helped Wick over the previous 24 hours (being the events of the second film).

The mysterious “High Table”, the overseers responsible for governing the underworld of Assassins, send The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) to New York with orders to punish those responsible for letting John Wick murder a High Table member on the grounds of The Continental, the Assassins off-limits hotel managed by other series regular Winston, played by Ian McShane.

Winston is given an ultimatum, as is Laurence Fishburne’s Bowery King, both of whom aided and abetted Wick to kill High Table member Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio) and then allow him to escape at the end of the CHAPTER 2.

It should be clear by this stage that a refresher of the first two films is not such a bad idea just to catch-up with everything that’s happened in the previous outings. The mythology, especially understanding the etiquette the Assassination profession applies in the JOHN WICK universe, helps for a more enjoyable viewing experience of PARABELLUM, allowing a full comprehension of WHY events unfold the way they do throughout this new film.

Case in point, a trip to Casablanca!

What seems like a random sidebar in a story that is bookended by New York City locations turns out to be another mythology-building sequence by Writer Kolstad, who is apparently already working on the fourth film and a TV series centred around comings-and-goings at The Continental.

That’s one of the reasons why JOHN WICK films have found an audience over the last five years. Despite the fact their full of gratuitous violence and the stories don’t always make sense, the mythology of the characters and their surroundings help to paper over much of their shortcomings and make the story feel as though it has some deeper meaning. (Whether that is the case is open to debate.)

PARABELLUM is no different.

The story has some character reveals that have been hinted at throughout the previous two films, but are confirmed in the third. At the same time, the story introduces new characters, new settings and new plot threads that are left - quite deliberately - unresolved as the third film’s credits close.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment of the third film is the finale feels like it’s the point at which the third film should begin. Those who enjoyed the new alliances Wick forged in the second film will be pleased to see those relationships play themselves out logically, but the journey to get there could have been a little speedier, as fans are, without doubt, keen to find out how John Wick can - eventually - return to the more serene life he had created for him and his wife before he lost her to cancer in the lead up to the events that triggered his return to his “old ways” in the first film.

That said, there’s plenty of life in the John Wick series yet and this third film does not disappoint.

Keanu Reeves isn’t looking any younger and he runs like he’s a 70 year old, but, when it counts, he’s still got the “Action” moves. It’s hard to tell how much of his stunt work is his own and how much is done by a professional stunt person, by Chad Stahelski does an awesome job of making sure the viewer thinks its Reeves in every scene. The pair have worked on stunts together for the last 20 years (going all the way back to THE MATRIX in 1999) and the Director knows how to position the camera around his star to get the best possible result.

Credit also goes to Cinematographer, Dan Laustsen, back for his second JOHN WICK film after having worked with Stahelski on CHAPTER 2 and Guillermo del Toro on the Oscar winning picture THE SHAPE OF WATER in 2018. The stunt choreography in tandem with the lighting and camera work makes for an absolute visual treat, especially during the film finale as Wick faces off against fellow Assassin Zero, played by Martial Arts expert Mark Dacascos.

Special mention also goes to the film’s three canine supporting players. Wick’s dog is as cuddly  cute and obedient as always, but Halle Berry, who plays Sofia, part of the film’s Moroccan sojourn, is the owner of two of the most vicious pooches to ever take to the cinema screen. This pair give Cujo a run for his money, but they aren’t suffering from rabies! With Wick and Berry’s Sofia, the combo Human-canine quartet makes for one formidable kill squad and the story doesn’t waste the opportunity to put them through their paces.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM is not for everyone.

It’s super violent.

It requires some understanding of the two previous films.

Some of the plot points don’t make a lot of sense…

However, it is one awesome Action Thriller.

It has production value to burn.

The stunts, especially the close combat fight scenes, are absolutely outstanding.

And, at its heart, is Keanu Reeves. Sure, he’s not a great actor, but he inhabits this role so well that it’s hard to do anything other than will him on to victory, forgiving his stilted delivery…. What’s even better, as the series goes along, is that Reeves is not afraid to get the absolute shit beaten out of him, but, like a professional, he gets back up and just keeps going. A lesser man would have given up log ago.

That says as much about Keanu Reeves the actor as it does John Wick the character...

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM MOVIE (2019) USEFUL LINKS

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum - Wikipedia
​John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) - IMDb
​John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019) - Rotten Tomatoes​

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