John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum - Review

Saying anything negative about the John Wick franchise is like walking into the lion's den covered in BBQ sauce. With the John Wick franchise getting more and more popular and Keanu Reeves becoming "the internet's boyfriend", I realize I am journeying through dangerous waters with what I am about to say. While John Wick and John Wick: Chapter 2 were really fun action movies, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum took a step into stupid territory.

Now I get it. John Wick was simply a movie that a couple of stuntmen created as a vehicle for action sequences. For the first film, it worked tremendously. A simple story about an ex-assassin going after the Russian mafia for stealing his car and killing his dog. On top of that, it had great action and a really cool fully-developed world of assassins with a strict set of guidelines and code. However, with such a simple story and a simple character, the story can only be pushed so far until it turns too ridiculous.

In the first two films, I was totally on board for all the over-the-top violence and action, but when you have a character that is basically unkillable, some of the action sequences start to get boring. You have Halle Berry and Keanu Reeves literally shooting hundreds and hundreds of guys in the head and absolutely none of the bad guys seem to hit them. It almost becomes boring simply based on the fact that I know for certain that John Wick will walk away without a single scratch on his body and that there is absolutely no challenge.

That being said, Keanu Reeves is still wonderful in the role as John Wick, and some of the action sequences are truly breathtakingly creative and violent. There is a chase involving a horse in the streets of New York and a fight which mostly consists of only throwing knives which are total adrenaline rushes and those are great. My problem comes when the opposing forces pose absolutely no threat. There was one moment where the next wave of enemies John Wick has to face actually pose some sort of challenge. I actually sat in my chair and thought to myself, "Okay, now I am really excited. How is John Wick going to escape this time?" For a moment, I was extremely invested, until he got a weapon upgrade and the threat was instantly gone.

Also, I won't spoil anything, but there were two moments that really made me question my enjoyment of the entire movie. Both of which were moments where I thought to myself, "Okay, I understand these movies are supposed to be ridiculous, but this is too far." Like, I get it. John Wick exists in it's own fantasy world where the rules of reality don't apply, but that doesn't mean you can change the rules of the movie's reality. Where our perception of reality is stretched too far, we ultimately lose interest. Or at least I did.

Again, I feel bad saying anything negative about this franchise because of how beloved it is by fans and because Keanu Reeves is on top of the world right now, but I enjoyed John Wick as a simple assassin story with cool action. Now, it's getting bigger, more complex, more action-packed (which is a good thing) and unfortunately, more stupid (which is a bad thing). The death of a puppy and the loss of a car is a great simple motivation for a simple revenge story, but now it seems like the story of John Wick has gotten too big for it's story.