John Wick: Chapter 3 Parabellum is the third installment of the cult hit starring Keanu Reeves as the retired ex-hitman who just wanted to be left alone. If you recall in the first chapter, that didn’t happen when punks broke in his home, try to steal his car, beat him to a pulp and worse of all, killed his dog. He went on a pay-back mission when he dug his floor up to bring out the best (or worse) in him with his guns. Suddenly he was a wanted man and that carried over to John Wick 2. You really have to watch the first two in order to follow along clearer.
Chapter 3 takes up right where part 2 left off with Wick hauling ass through the New York streets after killing Santino D’ Antonio on Continental grounds .A big no no. It’s not what he did. It’s who he did it to and where. Let the game begin. The High Table, the secret underground gave him a one hour grace period then put a $14 million bounty on his head. After that he is Excommunicadoed. He is the target of everyone on the street. This time he gets help from bad-ass Sofia (Halle Berry) and her two canines along with a horse or two for the kicks. There is always some humor to the John Wick stories and it fits perfectly. Sofia has former ties to Wick and now it’s a double team. Berry is bad-to-the-bone throughout and sports some nice moves.
The movie cuts away from the big city to the sun-soaked desert of Casablanca on the advice of Sofia to seek asylum. Then it’s back to the big apple for more killings when the Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) notifies those who betray the High Table of their punishment. Those included are Lawrence Fishburn the Bowery King and Winston (Ian McShane). He even seeks help from The Director (Anjelica Huston), the ballet instructor. This is a high-octane-energy-booster of a film and stands to be the best of all three even with some over extended fight scenes with the door being left open for a fourth. As long as we like seeing these, and I certainly do, he will keep making them. He does his own stunts with the exception of getting banged up by cars where he puts his stunt man in front. Smart move. 4.5 out of 5
