Laurence Fishburne

• Title: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
• IMDb: link

John Wick was simple revenge story stylized with a flourish of memorable action scenes (and an absurd amount of killshots to the head). John Wick: Chapter 2 brought back Keanu Reeves as the notorious hitman featuring a more convoluted story that was designed to help expand John Wick’s world. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum returns, at least initially, to the clear focus of the original by offering a set-up of Wick declared excommunicado and on the run from the very organization he has worked for, with an ever-increasing price on his head, numerous assassins looking to cash in, and all the usual help and support once available now denied.

For the first-half of the film, Chapter 3 works quite well as our protagonist runs for his life and calls on the few remaining debts owed to him. However, about halfway through the film the story shifts and, despite several impressive action scenes, never works quite as well as the writers once again over-complicate what should be a relatively straight action tale while instead focusing on more world building and setting up the next inevitable sequel. Parabellum doesn’t so much as come to a close as run out of time with the story left unfinished (and me left unfulfilled).

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• Title: John Wick: Chapter 2
• IMDb: link

2014’s John Wick was a thoroughly-enjoyable throwaway action flick. A simplistic revenge story with style and some unforgettable stunts, director Chad Stahelski‘s film knew exactly what it was and just how to deliver. A callback to 80s-style of gun-toting heroes who shot first and asked questions later, the movie ignored modern trends of cutting action scenes into an unrecognizable mess and kept the camera still to allow us to see the awesome unfold on screen. Stunts we could actually watch and enjoy, imagine that.

The sequel is a little more muddled than the original. After the pre-credit sequence wraps up the lone outstanding piece of John Wick’s revenge murder spree, the film slogs through a good 15-20 minutes of exposition, world building, and over-convoluted plot before remembering what it is and why it exists. Once the action ramps back up the film runs full blast to the closing credits, and perhaps beyond. John Wick: Chapter 2 ramps up the headshots and body count to an absurd degree with a handful of memorable kills that even put those from the first film to shame. At its best, it’s running 180 MPH with its burning rubber on fire, but when it idles the vehicle nearly stalls. Okay, no more car metaphors.

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