In Review: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Synopsis: Super-assassin John Wick returns with a $14 Million price tag on his head and an army of bounty-hunting killers on his trail. After killing a member of the shadowy international assassin’s guild, the High Table, John Wick is excommunicado, but the worlds most ruthless hit men and women await his every turn.

Review: John Wick is tested to the very limits in this third chapter of the film series, which sees him calling in a number of favors using tokens to in exchange for help to keep the bounty-hunters at bay, but it seems that these tokens will only get him so far before he is called upon to kill someone he considers to be a friend.

The Acting

As a fan of action movies. I don’t really pay a huge amount of attention to the acting, but these films, as well as a number of others, are the exception. While Keanu Reeves puts in a steady performance as John Wick. He is surrounded by a gaggle of brilliant actors who all contribute to the story. This includes new additions to the film series too.

Asia Kate Dillon is stunningly ruthless in her role as The Adjudicator

Robin Lord Taylor puts in a fun character turn as the Administrator, who despite not having a huge amount to do proves to be memorable. But it is Asia Kate Dillon who really shines in this film as The Adjudicator who is out to get Wick at all costs and delivers brutal justice on anyone she feels has aided him in any way. Which is something that will likely come back to bite her on the ass at some stage in the future.

Halle Berry shows off her action credentials as Sofia who reluctantly helps John make a contact, which costs her one of her Dogs. Man, you don’t want to kill this woman’s dogs. What is it with this film series and dogs anyway? This is a fun role for Berry, who hasn’t really done to much in the way of action since X-Men.

Of course, Ian McShane is great value as always and his character of Winston makes some really interesting choices in this film. Does he choose friendship or does he choose to keep his place under The High Table? The great thing about this performance is how poker-faced Winston remains throughout his dealings with the Adjudicator.

Overall

John Wick 3 delivers with every punch and every fight as the story continues to figuratively and literally twist and turn. The fight choreography throughout is unbelievable and the dogs in this movie put in a spectacular performance when it comes to attacking peoples crotch areas. I was wincing every time. The story continues to feel very much like a video game of comic book story come to life.

But topping it off is the final few fights in which Wick has to get through some highly skilled assassins who are skilled in a number of martial arts. This proves an excellent build-up to the final fight with Zero, who is portrayed brilliantly by Mark Dacascos.

Overall. This is an action-packed fun sequel, which lives up to its hype.

John Wick: Parabellum is available to buy now on Amazon Video and most other streaming services.