John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

First Hit: Entertaining, full of unbelievable action, and an excellent setup for Chapter 4.

One can only enter the theater knowing you're going to see lots of shooting, hand to hand combat and knife fighting. This film doesn’t fail at delivering this.

When we last saw Mr. Wick (Keanu Reeves) in Chapter 2, John had broken the rules of the Continental Hotel and Winston (Ian McShane), proprietor, was ready to put out a contract on Wick’s life.

This is where Chapter 3 opens. John is running through New York City, looking for a place to hide from the assassins that are ready to kill him for the $14M that is being offered for his extermination.

There is a countdown, and when the 6:00 PM execution time happens, the world seems to be after Wick. In this world, assassins are everywhere. Yes, I only gave glancing thought to this real-world possibility because this is an unreal world story, and even your neighbor is an assassin.

The ludicrousness of many of the fights Wick gets into and wins was out loud laughable (which I and others did) but no less engaging. Yes, some of the choreography was a little stiff with people hesitating for the next lunge, thrust or throw but it was delightful.

That, for me, is the point of this series of films. It is full of entertainment, has little basis in reality and is not presented to make a point. These films make Wick a voice of a man who was drawn back into the violent life, he left for a woman and subsequently a dog (“it’s not just a puppy.”) and now is fighting for his survival.

All the scenes are shot in dark tones, there are few daylight scenes. This aside, I liked many of the sets, from Bowery King’s (Laurence Fishburne) building basement and pigeon coops to the elegance of the Continental Hotel, and all are sets in darkened tones.

Reeves was fun to watch, but as I watched him run, especially at the beginning of the film, I found his running labored and slightly awkward. However, his quips along the way were great, and he only continues to develop and mine this character for pure entertainment. Halle Berry, as Sofia, was fun as the person who owed Wick a favor. Her dogs were a fun part of her scenes. McShane was perfect as the Continental’s proprietor. His role was expanded for this film and will be an integral part of the next. Fishbourne as the elegant Bowery King was memorable. His presence is critical here and will be in the next chapter. Mark Dacascos as Zero, the assassin the High Table uses as the principle assassin to take down Wick, was excellent. Asia Kate Dillon as the High Table’s Adjudicator was good. There wasn’t enough background of her to give me the impression she held all the cards she projected she held. This meant she had to build credibility in this role with her actions, dialogue, and screen presence, and she pulled it off. There’s an authority in her look that makes this role work. Lance Reddick (as Charon, the hotel’s desk man) expanded his previous role to become an excellent protector of the hotel, Winston, and Wick. Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten wrote an action-oriented script that brought out more of the principal characters. Chad Stahelski directed this film in a way that kept the story and feel of the past films while propelling it into the future.

Overall: This film is a world of its own, and it works as entertainment.

John Wick: Chapter 2

First Hit:  This movie had a very weak story, uninspired acting, and lots of shooting.

If you want to see someone shoot a lot of people, change a lot of clips in his guns, and act as if he doesn’t care if he’s in the film, watch Keanu Reeves as John Wick.

There were times in this film that I laughed out loud when it wasn’t supposed to be funny, it was just that stupid. I’m sure we’ll see a Chapter 3, because the ending scene has him running off with an hour time limit before the world of assassins are authorized to kill him.

In this film, he is goaded out of retirement because he is obligated to fulfill a marker held by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio). Santino wants his sister Gianna (Claudia Gerini) killed so that he can take her “seat at the table”. What table this is we’re not given much information about but I guess must be important for Reeves to go ahead in fulfilling the marker.

Wick being an assassin has the skills for the job and this is mostly what we see in this film. Lots of killing. Wick runs through lots of tunnels, alley ways, streets, and buildings shooting nearly a hundred people in this 2-hour 2-minute escapade.

There are lots of other assassins in this film including: Ares (Ruby Rose), Cassian (Common), and Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) to name a few. The person who keeps track of the assassins’ jobs and markers is Winston (Ian McShane) who runs the “International” hotel which is holy ground and no one kills anyone on holy ground.

Reeves was like a zombie walking through his scenes. Although he moves well, shoots well, and his ability to kick people in the legs so that he can make his assailants lose their balance was impressive, his scenes with dialogue seemed lifeless. Scamarcio was OK as the marker holder, however, he could not meet the image of a big time heavy. Common was probably the best of the lot. His clarity and intensity were strong. Fishburne was mediocre as a pigeon attending assassin controlling a part of NCY using street bums as his eyes and ears. McShane was probably the second best character in the film as the Manager of the International. Derek Kolstad wrote a very week script. The storyline was just filled with fluff between gun fights. Chad Stahelski did an OK job of directing the fight scenes but the story film was too long and had no real point, except to set up the next film where Wick will “kill them all.”

Overall:  Without a real strong point and with minimal acting, especially by Reeves, this film fails on most counts.

John Wick

First Hit:  The best thing is how Wick handles a gun and there’s lots of that in this film.

Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a retired hitman assassin for a Russian mob. He retired because he fell in love and then his wife dies. Because it was long-term illness, after her death she pre-arranged to have a puppy sent to John. After a few days of dealing with a puppy, he becomes totally engaged and loves this dog.

Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), son of John’s former boss Viggo (Michael Nyqvist) wants John’s car and decides to rob him by invading his house, killing his dog and stealing his car. This does not go over well and the rest of the film is about Wick getting revenge.

The plot, although weak, is an interesting way to make Wick have a soft heart while giving him a vehicle to kill everyone in Viggo’s organization and he does. The best part was the choreography of the shooting scenes, Wick is a master at movement and shooting and Reeves voice, body language and movement makes it work.

Reeves makes this script and film work with the aloofness that comes naturally to him. His body awareness and abilities, probably gained from the “Matrix” series, are an asset here. Allen is perfect as the spoiled, unthoughtful, and stupid son of the Russian Mafioso. Nyqvist is excellent as the head of the mob, by being cynical, irreverent, and mean. Willem Dafoe as Reeves friend Marcus is very good at having Wick’s back. I also thought Adrianne Palicki was strong as a woman assassin who wanted to cash in on the price on Wick’s head. Derek Kolstad wrote an OK screen play which tried to create a backstory but it was all about killing lots of people. David Leitch and Chad Stahelski co-directed the film and despite a weak plot, the execution of choreographed killing scenes worked out well.

Overall:  It was entertaining but is was also simply a vehicle for guns and killings.