John Wick: Chapitre 3 - Parabellum

..THE FILM-MAKERS, { VERY SIGNIFICANTLY }, HAVE FORGOTTEN TO ADD { " F A N T A S Y " }, TO THEIR LITTLE LIST OF GENRES APPLICABLE TO "JOHN WICK, CHAPTER 3 : PARABELLUM" .

" Life is suffering, Art is pain " ~ the Character known simply as : ' The Director ' .

This is EASILY THE MOST BRUTAL FILM I've seen in a fair bit of time. PLEASE { D O N ' T ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ } take your { M I N O R }-children/siblings/relatives/friends/wards along with you for this film. Sure the violence is 'Highly-stylized', but I can UNEQUIVOCALLY assure you : there's a seriously GRATUITOUS amount of "HARDCORE, UNABASHED, BLOODLETTING " in the picture, at EVERY-SINGLE-TURN. I just gave "MARVEL'S AVENGERS : ENDGAME" A { " FIERCELY TRIUMPHANT 10 / 10 " }, ( for crying out loud ! )..... so there's JUST NO WAY that I can, in 'All-good-conscience', give this particular cinematic-outing anything higher than a { " Resounding, Hard-Sought " } 7.25 MARKS OUT OF 10 MARKS .

NOW ON THE { P L U S ⭐ } SIDE :

The Said-Film is absolutely KNEE-DEEP IN : 1. SERIOUSLY RIP-TICKLING { & VERY, VERY TIMELY, INDEED - ! } CONCENTRATED BOUTS OF COMIC RELIEF ( SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE ⭐ ! ) , 2. UTTERLY "MIND-BENDING" { '& SEEMINGLY NEVERENDING' } FIGHT CHOREOGRAPHY, & . . 3. SUBLIMELY "SYNCHRONIZED-TO-THE-ACTION" 👉 { NEON, FIRE-LIGHT & GENERAL SPECIAL-EFFECTS LIGHTING; OFTEN BATHING THE VIEWER IN SUPREMELY GORGEOUS COLOUR SWIRLS AND 'COLOUR-MACHINATIONS' } 👈 .....FOR THE PASSIONATE ART-LOVERS ⭐ , AMONG YOU, AT LEAST !

And believe-it-or-not , there are ( EVEN A FEW ! ) "UNEXPECTEDLY" TOUCHING MOMENTS OF UNADULTERATED, SOUL-STIRRING POIGNANCY .

The film is at the end of the day, more a SPLENDIDLY, UNASHAMEDLY-DARK "CARICATURE", then it is a mindless gore-fest .

And given that ( LITERALLY, " EVERY THIRTEENTH PERSON ! " - As depicted in the film, i.e - ) on the streets of New York City is represented as an EVIL, MURDEROUS-ASSASSIN, you would INDEED BE WISE to remember, ( where the film-makers appear to have VERY ERRONEOUSLY forgotten ), that this is, "When-all-is-said-and-done" ....

..... a pure, unadulterated ->- " F A N T A S Y ⭐ " ->- ( & THAT IS ALL ! ) ~ in order to be able to TRULY enjoy this "Veritably DARK, DARK, RED", Cinematic-extravaganza ~ TO THE FULLEST ⭐ .

I'm a fan of the John Wick films. The action sequences are of the highest order and there is quite a bit that feels unique in each action scene. By half way through JW3I started to long for a plot line or a human relationship. There needs to be more to a movie than just fighting.

It's what you'd expect from a John Wick film. Slick styling, fantastic fight sequences, and a simple plot line-just don't think too much and it's a fun ride of escapism.

The one blemish was "The Adjudicator" character, played by Asia Kate Dillon. Truly awful acting, one dimensional range, and sorely miscast if anyone ever was. Asia treats us to a pile of unmitigated garbage that could have been so much darker and more compelling coming from a better actor. You know, one with an actual personality and more than one facial expression?

The John Wick series is great for what it is, and I found it annoying to see a major character in Chapter 3 be so obviously miscast with a low grade performer. What were they thinking? Why would someone so subpar be mixed in with great actors?

John Wick 3 is without a doubt the best action movie to have come out in a few years. And its so surprising and refreshing to see that movies like this still exist. Most action movies you see is filled with ridiculous amounts of shaky-cam, fast edits and way over-the-top fights. This is perfect. You can see all action clear as day, and by god the stuns in this film are extraordinary. Why the Academy Awards don't award talent like this is beyond me. There were times that I wondered if they had used CGI, because someone nuts must be willing to throw themselves from motorbikes and through glass. But whatever case it is, its a dam joy to watch.

As with the previous 2 installments, John Wick 3 is where Keanu Reeves is at home. This role was just made for him, and watching him stand toe to toe with powerhouses like Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Laurence Fishburne and Anjelica Huston, not only shows how good he is as an action star, but as an actor in general. He hasn't been given a role this good since the Matrix, but those movies never showed how good he was just at acting. He sells this movie.

The supporting cast is all amazing, and I loved how they left their character's hanging, giving us hope of seeing them in future installments. I also loved how more in-depth the movie spent on world-building. The way it brings in different cultures into this assassin guild is done very well.

John Wick 3 is an amazing action movie that never loses its steam throughout, and its 2 hour run times flies past, because of non-stop action that is directed and choreographed to perfection. I can't wait to see if they manage to pull off the 4th like they did here.

8.8/10

The continuation of the seemingly futile premise that is the John Wick saga.

Filled with many of the usual and choreographed violent action sequences you would come to expect. In between this, there seems to be an inordinate amount of bureaucracy and supposition surrounding the ominous "High Table".

For all accounts it's well made, but it's just more of the same and rather derivative of the first two. Just don't expect anything more from this and it'll do fine.