Unbelievably Good Action Saves Unbelievably Inconsistent Third Wick "Chapter"
By J.T. Kolness
2014's John Wick was one of the most gleefully good surprises of its year, offering us a shockingly emotional and terrifically badass action thriller and blessing us with a new iconic character for Keanu Reeves to play after the actor had been swinging and missing for years since his last big role in the sci-fi classic The Matrix. Director Chad Stahelski proved to be a brilliant stager of beautifully shot action scenes layered with a crisp sense of humor. Stahelksi upped his game with the uniquely different John Wick Chapter 2, which switched things up and eyed its focus primarily on crafting some of the most jaw-droppingly choreographed sequenecs of action in modern cinema (rather than the more lowkey approach of the first) and while the film had less emotional resonance and staying power, it still managed to drop our jaws further and clench our fists tighter.
John Wick Chapter 3 is more an extension of the second film than the second film was to the first, and Stahelski raises the bar in the action department further than most films could ever dream. This film breaks balls more brutally, intricately, uniquely, inventively, and impressively than any film in this genre and Stahelski's set pieces are pure action-movie brilliance. He can make a library a war zone and a thick book a weapon of destruction. He even utilizes the franchise's canine elements better than ever before. On that level, the film truly needs to be seen to be believed. Especially paired with Dan Lausten's stunning cinematography, which is a vibrant, colorful feast for the eyes recalling Roger Deakin's work on Skyfall (2012).
The set pieces being as good as they are raise the bar considerably in this genre, but they also raise the film above some pretty glaring script and performance issues. Yes, this ultimately is the weakest film in the franchise, despite having the best action. Most of the film's insane balls-to-the-wall orchestra of bullets and beatdowns (on foot and on horse) hits its peak in the first half hour. After that, we are taken on a detour of Wick, one man against an everlasting army of assassins sent by Wick's former employment The Continental, tracking down members of his past to earn the forgiveness of The Continental to finally stop the assassination attempts.
While most of Reeves' screen time is still engaging, especially when pairing up with the unfortunately underused Halle Berry as Sofia, a former friend of Wick, who has two very-well-trained dogs of her own, the film introduces us a new villain in the form of Asia Kate Dillon's The Adjudicator. Dillon's screen time lags the pace of the film, mostly due to the fact that their performance is so horrendous, you'll question if you stepped out of a good Keanu Reeves film and entered something as bad as Replicas. It's a performance so wildly miscalculated, you'll find Reeves' ridiculed performance in Bram Stoker's Dracula Oscar-worthy by comparison. It's odd, given Dillion's success as a performer on Showtime's Billions. Is bad performance direction at fault?
It's also quite underwhelming when the film reaches its conclusion and isn't able to stick the landing, choosing to instead open a bunch of doors rather than close this story on a decent note. By the end of the film, you'll be immensely satisfied by the action movie opera we're granted, but the film weirdly feels like it doesn't accomplish anything on a story level. The fights are wildly fun and wonderfully ludicrous, and thankfully are the majority of the film, but as the film concludes, we just wind up back where we started rather than building on what came before. It's a copout in the attempts of expanding this awesome franchise, which is both a gift and a bummer for fans as many of us would have preferred we close this story. It's baffling to imagine how Stahelski can even think of topping his sequences here. They can try, but we may be getting spoiled with too much of a good thing, and as John Wick Chapter 3 is concerned, it's still a good thing, even as its tank of gas seems to be getting lower.
"John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum", a Lionsgate release, is rated R for ____. Running time:____ Three stars out of four.
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