Super-assassin John Wick is on the run after killing a member of the international assassin’s guild, and with a $14 million price tag on his head – he is the target of hit men and women everywhere.
“John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum” takes up exactly where part 2 left off, with John Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run from every assassin in New York City. At the end of part 2, John ended up killing his main nemesis, Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), in The Continental Hotel, a place of refuge for assassins where company business is never permitted on the premises. After breaking this rule, Winston (Ian McShane), the hotel manager, has no choice but to put out a contract on John worth $14 million but because he and John have been friends and known each other for years, he gives him a one-hour headstart. That is when the action begins.
After several brutal fights and shootouts, John makes his way to The Director (Anjelica Huston), a face from his past who owes him a debt and grants him safe passage to Casablanca. Once there, he meets up with Sofia (Halle Berry), an assassin he once helped in the past and who now owes him a favor. She runs the local branch of The Continental and all he asks from her is where to find The Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui), the senior most ranking member of The High Table, the council made up of high-level crime lords who are the ultimate authority in the underworld. They call the shots and are responsible for putting out the contract on John but who also have the power to remove said contract. Sofia doesn’t know where The Elder is but she knows who does, a man named Berrada (Jerome Flynn), one of The Elder’s top-ranking men. She and John meet with him and John asks for The Elder’s whereabouts. Berrada gives him the information he requests but in return, he tells Sofia that she must hand over one of her two loyal dogs. She refuses and he shoots one of them. In retaliation, she shoots Berrada and his men and both she and John must fight their way out of the building.
Sofia then drives John to the edge of the desert where he must make the brutal trek by himself to find The Elder. They part ways and John heads off into the desert where after several days, he collapses from heat exhaustion. When he wakes up, he is inside The Elder’s tent after having been rescued by one of his men. He asks for the chance to redeem himself and The Elder, impressed that John has survived so long, gives him two options; he can either die or travel back to New York City and kill Winston. Initially hesitant to accept the offer, he finally acquiesces but per The Elder’s request, he must prove his loyalty to the High Table. John then severs his ring finger and gives him his wedding ring as a show of commitment. He then travels back to the United States and having narrowly survived an attack on his life, makes his way to The Continental and must make the decision to go through with killing Winston, or team up with him to take on The High Table.
This third iteration doesn’t care about character development or story exposition, if you have seen the first two movies then everything you need to know is in there. If you haven’t seen them, it might be worth your while to binge-watch them before you seek out part 3. The action comes fast and furious and, at times, with such ferociousness, it puts most slasher flicks to shame. People are shot, stabbed, skewered, impaled, their heads blown off, and in the opening fight scene, John gives new meaning to the phrase, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” Keanu Reeves inhabits John Wick with such intensity and concentration that it is almost impossible to take your eyes off him and when he is not onscreen, you eagerly await his return. Halle Berry makes for a good ally but sadly, is not in the film for very long. Both Ian McShane and Lance Reddick return in great form as both the manager and concierge of The Continental and this time around, both get to flex more than just their acting chops. Director Chad Stahelski, who directed parts 1 and 2, keeps the action flowing freely and always manages to come up with creative methods for John to kill or escape inescapable scenarios, which, in any other movie, would be groan-inducing. Here, you dare not groan for fear that “Baba Yaga” might hear you!
In theaters Friday, May 17th
