Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Runtime: 131 minutes
Proving that, yes, you actually can rest an entire franchise solely on the reward factor of gratuitous and bloody head-shots, 2019 brings us the third instalment in the ever-popular John Wick series: the cryptically titled, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum. For those not intimately acquainted with their Latin, this particular chapter designation is a helpful clue to the film’s overall mission statement, lifted from the phrase ‘Si vis pacem, para bellum,’ which translates to: ‘If you want peace, prepare for war.’
Now, given this film’s position as the third chapter in an ongoing story, picking up directly after the events of the two preceding films, it’s safe to bet that anyone reading this review is already somewhat familiar with how we got here. However, if that isn’t the case, here’s a brief recap for you:
In John Wick, our titular protagonist (Keanu Reeves) receives a dog in the mail from his recently deceased wife. Meanwhile, the Russian mob breaks into his house, steals his car and kills said dog. This makes Wick angry, so he kills the entire Russian mob in NYC. Wick also steals a new dog. Enter John Wick: Chapter 2 (which we have reviewed here). Wick is blackmailed by an Italian mobster to help fulfil a blood-oath. Wick goes on a Eurotrip to Rome, completes his mission and is then summarily double-crossed. Wick comes back to NYC and kills anyone in his path, before breaking one of the cardinal rules of his shadowy secret society. Also, Wick’s new dog survives this film.
There, up to speed now? Great. So, after executing a man on the grounds of the Continental Hotel (breaking the first cardinal rule of the series, directly after fulfilling the second), Parabellum picks up right after where Chapter 2 left off, diving into the looming threat and outcome of Wick’s excommunicado. With a steadily-rising $14 million contract on his head, Wick must fight his way out of NYC and get ready for war, as he becomes the target of every assassin on the planet.
For the most part, early reviews for Parabellum have been overwhelmingly positive, praising the technical aspects of the film. As with the previous entry in the series, the combination of stuntman-come-director Chad Stahelski and cinematographer Dan Laustsen is superb, with the pair coming to represent the pinnacle of twenty-first-century action cinema. From NYC to Morocco and back again, they gracefully push the story through dazzling, perfectly executed set-pieces, framed against lived-in urban environments, close-quarter combat zones and thick washes of neon.
Reeves as Wick is simply a delight to watch, and between Speed, The Matrix franchise and now the John Wick series, he might just be the most underrated action star of his generation. Reeves brings a level of skill and humour to the role that makes for an endearing attachment to an otherwise blank slate protagonist (don’t forget that John Wick essentially started as a ‘Sad Keanu’ meme come to life, with a dead puppy for character motivation). The remaining cast are also excellent here, with Ian McShane, Lance Reddick and Laurence Fishburne all reprising their previous roles, chewing up screen time in a multitude of delicious and amusing fashions. New characters played by Halle Berry, Asia Kate Dillon and Anjelica Huston give the film some teeth, while various antagonists in the form of fellow action-stars like Mark Dacascos, Tiger Chen, and Yayan Ruhian of the exemplary The Raid franchise, bring some much-needed variation to the martial arts table.
However, about ten minutes into the film, directly after the first fight scene and an outrageous kill, everyone in the theatre for my premiere screening laughed, clapped and cheered. And this phenomenon continued unabated for much of the film’s two-hour-plus runtime, which lead me to some interesting internal questions: Why am I here? What purpose—if any—does blood-soaked hyper-violence actually serve? What is the aesthetic value of a quick-fire head-shot to a faceless henchman? If death doesn’t ultimately mean anything, then why must it be shown over and over again?
As Wick navigates NYC and the larger world, almost every single person he interacts with is aware of him, his reputation and status, and they all appear to be living their life under the shadow of the High Table. Screenwriter Derek Kolstad has done a great job of world-building across the series, establishing a vast assassin network that stretches its kiss of death across the globe, however, there’s an underlying inverse proportionality between believability and the narrative weight of film lore. Some critics have pondered these same questions and wrestled with this form of gleeful spectacle as a manifestation of ‘aesthetic desensitisation’. And while I generally agree with that assessment, purely on the grounds of loose cultural evidence, I feel that the real answer is somewhat less pessimistic. You see, it all makes sense, once you realise that John Wick is actually a video game character and everyone else is an NPC. No, this isn’t some kind of ‘meta’ plot twist or erratic YouTube fan theory, but I do think it is a useful way of viewing the world in which these films take place.
It’s not that Wick’s ever-rising body count makes us question the morality of vengeance in a world that appears to revel in suffering and value violence above all else—it’s more that it’s not really the point. When we watch and root for John Wick, we’re essentially playing Jason Bourne on cheat mode. He’s an end-of-his-tether James Bond with unlimited ammo and maximum gore turned on. He’s a younger yet still deadpan Bryan Mills from Taken with dead-wife-and-dog gameplay cinematic, instead of a captive daughter. Every scene of Wick running from set-piece to slightly harder set-piece is simply a loading screen for the audience, as we wait for the next slew of weapon choices and boss fights to become available. Parabellum knows exactly how this virtual reality works and leans right into it, leveraging audience expectations when it comes to wave after wave of AI henchmen, destructible environments, vehicle upgrades and carefully placed weapon MacGuffins. If Stahelski shot these films purely from Wick’s perspective and added a kill count and health bar in the corner, you’d essentially have Call of Duty or Metal Gear Solid.
Is Parabellum a real threat to the moral fabric of society, destined to unleash a new paradigm of ceaseless violence among the fragile youth? Probably not. Is it endlessly entertaining and thrilling from start to finish? Absolutely. Even the dogs get in on the action in this film. So, go on, give it a (head) shot. “Be seeing you.”
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