DOES JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 TAKE EVERYTHING TO ANOTHER LEVEL?

Style, action and cinematography are at their highest in the third instalment of John Wick. However, the questionable pacing and lack of spark rank Chapter 3 – Parabellum at the bottom of the scale.

A $14 million bounty is placed on the head of elite assassin John Wick after killing a member of the international assassins’ guild known as The Table, making him the target of ruthless hit men and women everywhere.

Director: Chad Stahelski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, Ian McShane
Writer: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, Marc Abrams
Release Date (Australia): 16 May 2019
Runtime: 131 minutes/2h 11m
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA
Language: English, Russian, Italian, Mandarin, Latin, Arabic, Indonesian

R (for pervasive strong violence, and some language)

What made the first John Wick movie so distinctive for the action-thriller genre was its humanity in the character, which is what feels like the second and third chapters have completely demolished. Now the franchise has evolved into nothing more than a messy, overlong clip with the plot synopsis of Keanu Reeves killing a bunch of assassins who are each trying to take him down now that a $14 million bounty has been placed on his head.

Despite the appallingly bad dialogue, extremely dull antagonists and the lack of emotional connection, these aren’t even the worst parts of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. Alike tons of other cinema action movies today, this movie is just a wasted opportunity for fun if you’d even go to the extent of agreeing that the concept had a chance in the first place. Similar to the MCU, this unnecessary instalment is blessed with gorgeous cinematography and nearly-flawless direction (which is the only reason this film deserves its winning box office). However, it seems that filmmakers have not yet learned that visual perfection does not equal an enjoyable story with a pace that’s quick enough to keep you watching.

Getting onto the topic of the pacing and entertainment value, even if you’re able to stretch a weak storyline to a runtime longer than what’s already more than too much, the main goal should be to at least deliver a sample than an audience will find worthy of their time. Unfortunately, John Wick: Chapter 3 is just as boring as it is mindless, worthless and forgettable. The first lot of violent fighting action sequences are pretty enjoyable, but after a while, you’ll find yourself scratching your eyeballs, relentlessly fidgeting as you wait for the long awaited credits, and just questioning how low of an IQ the people who wrote this film have.

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