John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

2019 action sequel to a sequel

Rating: 15/20

Plot: John Wick has a bounty of 14 million dollars on his head because of what happened in the last movie, and he has to find a way to escape New York before somebody collects. Then, there are some dogs and Catwoman.

The dreaded colon-plus-a-hyphen-that-should-probably-be-a-dash in the title of this one, and I wish they would have just left it as John Wick: Chapter 3. A "parabellum" sounds like a wild amusement park ride, the kind where you decide to inquire about the safety by asking a carny holding a cigarette between a pair of teeth and getting a shrug and a gravelly-voiced, "Well, you only live once, ya squirt" followed by a horrifying laugh that unleashes improbably terrible breath. This is an amusement park ride of an action flick, so stylish and energetic that you forgive almost every single one of its flaws.

You should know, if you've studied your Latin, that "parabellum" actually means "a whole bunch of mo-fos are going to get shot and stabbed," so it seems that nothing should surprise you about what would happen with John Wick and the mo-fos he stabs or shoots in this movie. As you might remember if you've read my write-ups about the others John Wicks, I was enamored with the artsy-fartsy action sequences in the second installment, so much that it forced me to reevaluate my opinion of the first movie. Heading into this third movie, I feared that it would just be more of the same sort of violent shenanigans with generous helpings of style and 80's neon backdrops to provide necessary flavor, the kind of thing that might feel redundant after 2 1/2 movies and cause this one to break down like that amusement park ride because that two-teethed guy doesn't give a shit and went out for more smokes. He sure as hell didn't go out for deodorant!

There might be a couple fight scenes that go on a little too long in this third installment and start to feel redundant. For the majority of the action sequences, however, there are things that I can't remember seeing before. Not that I'm an aficionado of action cinema exactly, but I've seen my fair share of movies. As with Chapter 2, this starts with a little Buster Keaton action projected on a building, I believe in Times Square. It foreshadows some of the slapsticky ultraviolence ahead for Wick as he tries to get out of New York with his life and possibly a doggy. The nocturnal adventures take him to a public library, inexplicable horse stables, and some sort of weapons museum, and in each of those locations, Wick demonstrates his killing prowess in highly original, stylized, and just fucking cool ways. Books, motorcycles, horses, and knives are used in ways that dropped my jaw and had me wanting to both hoot and holler (generally frowned upon) and even laugh. I can't think of a single fight scene in this that I didn't love watching. And while I doubted anything could top or even match the beauty of the big shoot-'em-up in the museum in the last movie, the climax takes place in a setting that seems to exist only so that John Wick can fight inside it. It's gorgeous, even when it's being smashed apart by bodies hurled through its glass walls.

A side note: The first three movies in this series take place during the same week, right? Am I missing where there's a time jump of some kind? John Wick really kills like a thousand people in just a few days, right?

Let's talk about dogs. No, actually, let's not talk about them.

This succeeds most when it is a silent movie. Well, a silent movie with sound effects, all those percussive gun blasts, manly (and womanly) grunts, snarling dogs, knife thunking, fist thwacking, body thudding. When the characters talk, there are less consistent degrees of coolness. Part of me wanted to turn off the part of my brain that focuses on plot and character and just let the rest of me enjoy the ride, and at one point, I did kind of lose track of what John Wick was even doing. This delves into the mythology of this alternate reality where every other person is apparently an assassin, all this "high table" nonsense, and the samurai-esque codes of honor and dishonor. Of course, I shouldn't be expected to understand this movie because I almost always have trouble with the superhero genre and Keanu Reeves' character in this franchise is definitely a superhero.

Man, I sure do love all the attention Buster Keaton has to be getting from his archival cameos in these. Long live, Buster Keaton! And long live, John Wick!