The John Wick series are the hit action films to see. The first one came out in 2014 and, since then, moviegoers eagerly look forward to the next one. Each film is filled with violent fight scenes choreographed with incredible, highly skilled martial arts. The third installment, Parabellum, is no different. The title itself means to prepare for war.
Parabellum takes over where the second film left off. John Wick, portrayed by Keanu Reeves, is wounded and wandering the streets of New York. The clock is ticking with only a few minutes to spare until Wick is excommunicated by his former employers, the High Table, a council of 12 crime lords running an underground organization, and a 14 million dollar bounty is placed on his head. Wick seeks medical attention from his friend The Doctor, but time runs out while the Doctor is halfway through stitching up Wick, so Wick has to finish as The Doctor uses body language to help Wick find the right tools. The Doctor then has Wick shoot him twice so it appears he had no choice but to help.
After leaving The Doctor, Wick seeks help from The Director, portrayed by Anjelica Huston. Wick uses his birthright to convince her to help transport him to Casablanca, where we are introduced to Sofia, portrayed by Halle Berry. This is the weakest scene in the movie but it does play on what the first film introduced (the hatred and vengeance that began the whole series). Sofia takes Wick to her old boss Berrada, portrayed by Jerome Flynn (who we all know as Bronn from Game of Thrones). A fight breaks out after Berrada shoots one of Sofia’s highly trained attack dogs. This fight sequence has Wick scurrying around avoiding being shot, which seems rather basic for a man who can kill a person with just a pencil.
In John Wick Chapter 3 — Parabellum we are shown a whole new level of fight sequences. The first jaw-dropping fight scene is when Wick defeats a seven-foot assassin with just a library book. He is then chased by motorcycles while on horseback which eventually leads him to a bloody showdown in a room filled with antique weapons. In one of the last fight scenes of the film, Wick challenges one of the High Table’s top assassins in a room completely filled with glass.
The director, Chad Stahelski, and his stunt team did an amazing job at creating rhythmic movement and matching it with raw, gory combat. The series excels at depicting high-stake onscreen combat but Parabellum lacks in storytelling in certain areas. Despite this, the John Wick films are fun films that don’t carry a lot outside of the realm of action, but are always entertaining to watch. The series is slated to continue with John Wick: Chapter 4 in May 2021.
