‘John Wick: Chapter 3’ Review: Keanu Reeves Is Back for Another Brutal Round Of One Man And His Dog&

In “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum,” guns have more dialogue than its hero, which is fine because we all know John Wick, AKA (Keanu Reeves) thrives on less dialogue and more on his own unique acting, (think, the moody gunslinger from all of those old Westerns).

And we have guns, guns, knives, dogs, horses, literally anything John Wick can use to kill those bad guys, he will use to great effective use.

Even more than its predecessors, this third installment in the reluctant-assassin franchise is, like most modern action movies, perfectly attuned to the needs of the foreign markets where most of its money will be made.

Keanu Reeves as the title character in “John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.”CreditNiko Tavernise/Lionsgate

John himself (still embodied, to mechanistic perfection, by Keanu Reeves) is a man on a mission with an unending supply of foes.

Number three picks up right where the previous movie left off: Wick is still the hit man no one will let retire. Fate keeps pulling him back in. In his 2014 origin story, the retired killer-for-hire was infuriated because the bad guys stole his prized 1969 Mustang and then killed his puppy. In the 2017 sequel, the antihero had acquired a new pet and new enemies at the High Table, a society of the criminal elite.

But Wick broke the rules and he did the unforgivable by slaying a man at the Continental, a chic Manhattan hotel for the crème de la crème of assassins run by Winston (Ian McShane, dispensing martini-dry wit), who strictly enforces the rule that there will be no “business conducted” at the Continental.

Ever.

For breaking that ordinance, John finds himself excommunicated and on the run with numbers (bad guys) are now legions, and thanks to the multimillion-dollar bounty placed on John’s head by the global society of villains known as the High Table.

Now, he’s off and running through a teeming, gleaming Manhattan night, every hot-dog seller, sashimi chef and hobo his possible executioner.

The Matrix co-star Laurence Fishburne also reprises his role as the crime-lord Bowery King, as does Ian McShane as Winston, owner, and manager of the Continental Hotel.

Elsewhere, Oscar-winning actors Anjelica Huston (as a ballet instructor mobbed up with the crime network known as the High Table) and second-billed Halle Berry make their bid for best supporting actress. In a nicely delayed entrance, Berry’s character, the mysterious Sofia, is contacted by Wick when he really needs a favor when he arrives in Casablanca, and Sofia has a very good pair of tactical attack dogs.

Opposing Sofia and John IS Mark Dacascos‘s Zero, a part-time sushi chef, a part-time assassin with a ninja army at his disposal, and The Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon), a representative of the High Table. She is on a mission to wipe out anyone who has ever helped poor John in the previous film, and this goes for all of the staff at the bewildered Continental Hotel.

BEST PART:

If Culturedemandsgeeks could say (all of the film, we would!0 There are any number of thrilling passages in “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” but a moment of true inspiration comes from the start, and the film explodes with violence and violence in a library.

Wow!

Our hero, soulful assassin John Wick, is at the New York Public Library to find a very specific book when he’s interrupted by a towering contract killer (played by NBA center Boban Marjanović) and death by hardcover, wildly exceeds the book-bashing Matt Damon doled out in “The Bourne Ultimatum.”

That part is great, but the moment of true inspiration comes next when he goes back and replaces the book on the shelf where he found it.

This detail works not because it is funny, but because it fits the character so perfectly that it would almost be weird if he didn’t do it. In a genre where impersonality is the name of the game more than ever, it’s a delight.

And everything after this scene is top notch, too!

It’s also a movie that is in love with its own mythmaking.

Even the characters facing John Wick, the stoic hitman played by the immortal Keanu Reeves, are enamored with Wick as if they’re beaming fans of the first two movies. Two of his enemies, part of an elite gang of sushi chefs-slash-assassins (really!), are so honored to be locking fists with Wick that they practically ask for his autograph mid-fight.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Culturedemandsgeeks absolutely loves these movies. We’re glad to see a successful R-rated action movie franchise that can genuinely thrill and entertain the masses with an abundance of kung-fu, karate, and every other kind of martial arts that exists.

This movie is relentless with the action and all credit due, the franchise constantly mixes it up and keeping it fresh for every new chapter. John Wick continues to build on the series’ mythology and has some of the coolest action and most memorable side characters of the entire series.It’s a fun and interesting world with a lot of potential for the supporting of characters to grow in Chapter 4.

5/5 STARS