John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Guns, a lot of guns

Gun Fu, Gun Porn, Stylized Ultra violence, call it whatever you want, but, one thing is certain, John Wick 3 delivered it all, and then brought you second and third helpings. Tom Cruise gets a lot of cred for doing his own increasingly elaborate stunts for each M.I. installment, but I'll see you EVERY stunt the couch jumping Mr. Cruise has done his ENTIRE career, for the first two action sequences in this movie ALONE! Also, Keanu Reeves isn't just harnessed to a plane or rappelling down the side of a building and leaping across roof tops. Reeves weapons handling and combined intricate fight sequences aren't the result of Steven Seagal style quick cuts, Fast and Furious edits, post SFX, or tricky camera angles to disguise whats actually happening. It's VISCERAL, because the camera lingers on the mayhem so that the viewer can savor each strike, slash, stab, and gunshot, and ALL the accompanying carnage. Not in Sam Peckinpah slo-mo, but in real time, yet, somehow, one is still able to take it all in, and then the sequence would end, just about the same time you remembered to BREATHE!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=20&v=nrawit53W7s

Yes, it's over the top, but this is the world John Wick inhabits. A culture of hired assassins, an entire society, existing just beneath the surface of the one you and I can see, the one the rest of us inhabit. A society with rank and file members, management, service, and executive classes, and RULES. And it is the rules, which have kept order from devolving into chaos for hundreds of years, that have made them "different from the animals".

For the love of his deceased wife, a car, and a puppy, John Wick reached his proverbial "last straw". (John Wick 1) For his loyalty to a blood oath, which was broken, he violated a cardinal rule, and was marked for death. (John Wick 2) Yet, using those same rules and oaths, (and his particularly unique set of skills) he was able to braid for himself a life-line, tenuous as it was, but a life-line nevertheless. The powers that be cannot allow that to happen, and seek to intimidate, punish, and if necessary eliminate each of those who extended him a thread of that line, even if they technically only "stretched" the rules. What they have failed to realize is that John Wick's reputation as the "Baba Yaga", the proverbial Boogie-man, is not only well earned, but, if anything, it is UNDER stated.

Those who were paying attention saw that we actually DID get quite a bit of origin/back story on the eponymous Mr. Wick, as well as a glimpse into the world of the contract killers, as to how the contracts are put out, and the hierarchy that pulls the strings behind the scenes. I look forward to seeing this expanded upon in future installments

Kudos and Props this installment to Iron Chef Mark Dacascos and a host of other Asian Martial Artists as the closest thing John has to true competition, yet, they are at the same time fanboys who geek out at getting a chance to fight him.

To Halle Berry, for NAILING her fight sequences, then being a trooper and not quitting when her scenes cost her a couple of broken ribs. Her character obviously has some issues with the menfolk, considering how many she shot in the "kibbles and bits. Also props to the trainers of her two pups, and the stunt men for allowing same said puppers to gnaw precariously close to their kibbles and bits until she shot them. OUCH!

In case you doubt me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=66&v=xa2RJPrY2Og

To Laurence Fishburne, for making sure that Neo still has Morpheus as a Mentor, even if you "sometimes have to cut a Mo Fo".. All we need now is Carrie-Anne Moss' Trinity to show up in the inevitable Part 4, and all will be right in the Universe. (make it happen writers)

10 out of 10 - Best of the 3 so far IMO

I NEED MORE
DOG-FU IN MY LIFE.
THE 5 DOGS THEY USED FOR THAT JAW-DROPPING SET PIECE IS ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL AND SOMETHING I CAN WATCH OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
THE 8 MONTHS IT TOOK TO TRAIN THE DOGS FOR THAT HOLE SET PIECE
DEFINITELY SHOWS AND ABSOLUTELY PAID OFF.

X FINAL THOUGHT:
THIS IS DEFINITELY THE BEST AND MOST THRILLING INSTALLMENT YET AND IS HEAD AND SHOULDERS ABOVE THE OTHER 2 IN EVERY SINGLE WAY AND I AM ABSOLUTELY STOKED FOR THE 4th and 5th INSTALLMENT
HELLA YEAH.

Good continuation can't wait until the next chapter of John Wick...

Over the top murdering mayhem, it's John Wick. 10.

Even better than the first two. The horse kills! The weapon shop! More Fishburne! Lance Reddick (RIP to the GOAT) kicking ass! Zero and the twins being the best antagonists yet, intimidating yet affable and charming and home to the best fight scenes! I love this series

THIS MOVIE IS FRICKIN AWESOME AND THE SET PIECES THROUGHOUT THE FILM ARE JUST JAW DROPPING. THIS INSTALLMENT IS DEFINITELY THE BEST OF THE 3. WOW..JUST...WOW..
AFTER 3 INSTALLMENTS AND A 4th AND 5th IN PRODUCTION WE DON'T NEED A HEAVY STORY
ARE EVEN A REASON WHY,
JUST JOHN DOING WHAT HE DOE'S BEST. HUNT.
SPEAKING OF, THOSE FIGHT SCENES WERE SIMPLY BREATHTAKING AND SPECTACULAR AND BRILLIANTLY CHOREOGRAPHED, I ABSOLUTELY LOVED HOW YOU COULD SEE EVERY SINGLE MOVE BEING MADE, IT REALLY GETS YOU INVOLVED IN THE ACTION SET PIECES UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL.
OF COURSE WITH ANYTHING LIKE THIS YOU HAVE TO GET THE BOYS IN FROM
THE RAID 1 AND 2
JUST AWESOME HAVING THEM IN ON THIS ACTION AS THEY ARE AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME, LIKE BEST IN THE WORLD FOR THIS TYPE OF THING.
EVERYTHING WAS JUST BIGGER AND BETTER AND WAY MORE EXCITING THAN THE FIRST 2 MOVIES THE GUN-FU WAS MUCH SLICKER TO AND NOW HAS A
HEAD SHOT FINISHER,
WHICH IS FRICKIN AWESOME. LOVED ZERO BEING A FANBOY FUNNY VERY FUNNY, LOVEJOYS A DICK. AND I LOST IT WHEN JOHN GAVE A MATRIX REFERENCE.
I NEED GUNS,
LOTS OF GUNS,
I LOVED IT 3000.
BUT OF COURSE THE ABSOLUTE HIGHLIGHT FOR ME WAS THAT SCENE WITH JOHN AND HALLE AND THEM TWO ATTACK DOGS.
HOLY SHIT MY MOUTH WAS ON THE FLOOR AND I WAS IN TOTAL AWE.
THAT WAS PHENOMENAL AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN A SCENE LIKE THAT ANYWHERE ELSE.
THAT WAS FRICKIN AMAZING, WHAT A
SET PIECE, DEFINITELY MY FAVOURITE PART JUST AS THIS 3rd INSTALLMENT IS. WHAT A FUN THRILLING ENTERTAINING MOVIE THIS IS AND I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE
4th/5th INSTALLMENT
COS NOW HE'S PISSED
YEAH........
10/10 TOTALLY NINJA

Just as much a blast on a second watch. John Wick, like its titular protagonist, knows what it does it perfectly. If you want high octane action, there's few better, and the characters are wild and charismatic enough to leave an impression.

My favorite one out of the three. This movie requires a 4K tv or better. Dolby digital surround sound and a beefy subwoofer are also a must!