JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3: PARABELLUM (2019) ***

John Wick:  Chapter 2 ended on such a perfect note that John Wick:  Chapter 3 quickly became one of my most anticipated movies.  Who could forget when John Wick (Keanu Reeves) broke the sacred rules of committing murder in the hitman hotel, thus declaring open season on himself, allowing every hitman on the planet free reign to take him out?  It was an awesome set-up that suggested all hell would break loose in Chapter 3.  Other than a sterling opening twenty minutes or so, this uneven, sometimes frustrating sequel never quite lives up to the promise of its predecessor.  However, there are still enough moments of badassery here to keep fans of the series happy. 

Things kick off with an excellent fight in a library as well as a tense scene set in a doctor’s office.  Then along comes a sequence that will go down in history as one of the all-time greats.  John Wick is chased by a gang of killers into an antique weapons warehouse where they match wits in a hallway full of knives.  It is a jaw-dropping display of martial arts choreography, action cinematography, and sheer kinetic filmmaking.  I haven’t even brought up the horse fight.  

Then, as the film enters its second act, it does the unthinkable.  It gets boring.  It’s almost as if the first flurry of non-stop action winded the movie and it had to sit down and catch its breath.  It eventually rights itself as the action in the third act is frenzied and fun (though lacking the kick of the early sequences), but that whole middle section of the flick is downright turgid.

I always hate it when a movie feels like it’s making up its rules as it goes along.  I mean the second film ended with everyone in the world gunning for John Wick.  Then, all of a sudden, the flick is like, “Oh, wait we lied.  He’s got a Get Out of Jail Free card he pulled out of a box of Crackerjacks.”  Then when it feels like the action is about to ramp up again, there’s a longwinded scene where Wick finagles his way out of ANOTHER scenario by invoking inane obscure hitman bylaws at the last minute.  The original film’s world-building was one of its most intriguing aspects.  Here, it just seems like the screenwriters are just pulling new “rules” out of their ass to keep the stuntmen on the sidelines.  

It doesn’t help that the second act is chockful of scenes of brand-new characters that bring absolutely nothing new to the table.  The scenes of Anjelica Huston, Halle Berry, and the terrible new villain “The Adjudicator” (Asia Kate Dillon) are dull and stop the movie on a dime.  In fact, it seems like Halle is only there to set up her very own a spin-off as Reeves takes a backseat to her for a chunk of the movie.  Remember when they tried to pull that shit with James Bond on Die Another Day?  It didn’t work out so good, did it?  I won’t even tell you about the shitty Lawrence of Arabia part. 

Luckily, the stagnant second act is redeemed once Mark Dacascos and his Ninja buddies try to kill John Wick.  There’s even an extended cameo by one of my favorite badass Kung Fu stars that I wouldn’t dream of spoiling.  These fight scenes help to solidify the film’s shakiness somewhat, even if they lack the breathlessness of the opening moments. 

The ending sets things up for yet another sequel.  I can honestly say its not nearly as inspired as the previous cliffhanger.  Hopefully, the next Chapter will be a bit of a course correction for the series, but if it has at least one sequence as exhilarating as this one’s “Hall of Knives” fight, it’ll still be worth watching.

AKA:  John Wick 3:  Parabellum.