JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 - PARABELLUM
****
Director: Chad Stahelski
Screenwriters: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Mark Abrams, based on characters created by Kolstad.
Principal cast:
Keanu Reeves
Halle Berry
Ian McShane
Laurence Fishburne
Anjelica Huston
Asia Kate Dillon
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 130 mins.
Australian release date: 16 May 2019
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction, Sydney, on 16 May, 2019.
Picking up immediately where John Wick: Chapter 2 left off, the once-retired professional killer John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a marked man after despatching an enemy on the premises of The Continental, neutral ground in the underworld that he and his fellow assassins inhabit. As a result of this transgression, in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum he has been declared ‘excommunicado’ by the High Table and a 14-million-dollar reward has been placed on his head. With almost everyone in New York after his blood, Wick seeks the help of The Director (Anjelica Huston) to get out of the city and into Casablanca, Morocco, where he convinces an old acquaintance Sofia (Halle Berry), manager of the Casablanca Continental, to assist him. He’s hoping to find the whereabouts of The Elder, a revered member of the High Table, who may be able to remove his ‘excommunicado’ status. Meanwhile, back in NYC, an ‘adjudicator’ with the High Table (Asia Kate Dillon) visits Winston (Ian McShane), manager of the New York Continental, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), to tell them they must make amends for supplying aid to Wick and they have seven days to “get their affairs in order.” When Wick returns to the city, Winston quotes a 4th-century Roman military saying to him, "Si vis pacem, para bellum," which means "If you want peace, prepare for war." Asked what he needs, Wick, always a man of few words, replies simply, “Guns, lots of guns.”
Once again stuntman Chad Stahelski directs a script by Derek Kolstad (with co-writers Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Mark Abrams). The director says, “In this chapter, John Wick goes to war with the world. This gives us a chance to go to new places, go deeper into his personal journey and expand the journeys of other characters. For this chapter, we really wanted each of the action sequences to bring a new and different flavour - each gives you a bit more insight and clues into the different elements of who John Wick is and the path he is on.” And it’s true. We learn a lot more about Wick’s background and the secret world he inhabits in this instalment, which gives it something that the plot of John Wick: Chapter 2 lacked – depth. Of course, it goes without saying that Parabellum is still chock-a-block with the franchise’s trade-mark balletic death and destruction, murder and mayhem. Not for nothing does it have an MA15+ classification!
The three films so far (this one definitely sets us up for a fourth) occupy a unique place in the cinematic universe. Part Bond movie, part comic book, part video game, part neo-film noir, there’s a novel look to them; they sit in a kind of timeless world, a steam punk, retro mash-up of time and place. Look closely, for example, at the bureaucratic offices responsible for administering the rules of the High Table. They’re filled with old-fashioned typewriters, antiquated computers and outdated equipment operated by heavily tattooed, pierced women in white sleeveless blouses. It’s like they achieved the advances of the modern age while utilising machines from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. The weaponry, too, seems to cover an array of historical periods. And, of course, there’s Wick’s timeless uniform of a black three-piece suit. The cars and motorcycles, though, are definitely up-to-date.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is a lot of fun, if you like this kind of stylish ultra-violence, and brings back a number of memorable personalities from the earlier films, while introducing us to some very entertaining new ones - some of whom remain alive at the film’s end! This outing has already eclipsed the box office takings of the first two, so it looks like Reeves’ John Wick character will be with us for a while yet. He’s King of the B-movies!
Screenwriters: Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Mark Abrams, based on characters created by Kolstad.
Principal cast:
Keanu Reeves
Halle Berry
Ian McShane
Laurence Fishburne
Anjelica Huston
Asia Kate Dillon
Country: USA
Classification: MA15+
Runtime: 130 mins.
Australian release date: 16 May 2019
Previewed at: Event Cinemas, Bondi Junction, Sydney, on 16 May, 2019.
Picking up immediately where John Wick: Chapter 2 left off, the once-retired professional killer John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is a marked man after despatching an enemy on the premises of The Continental, neutral ground in the underworld that he and his fellow assassins inhabit. As a result of this transgression, in John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum he has been declared ‘excommunicado’ by the High Table and a 14-million-dollar reward has been placed on his head. With almost everyone in New York after his blood, Wick seeks the help of The Director (Anjelica Huston) to get out of the city and into Casablanca, Morocco, where he convinces an old acquaintance Sofia (Halle Berry), manager of the Casablanca Continental, to assist him. He’s hoping to find the whereabouts of The Elder, a revered member of the High Table, who may be able to remove his ‘excommunicado’ status. Meanwhile, back in NYC, an ‘adjudicator’ with the High Table (Asia Kate Dillon) visits Winston (Ian McShane), manager of the New York Continental, and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), to tell them they must make amends for supplying aid to Wick and they have seven days to “get their affairs in order.” When Wick returns to the city, Winston quotes a 4th-century Roman military saying to him, "Si vis pacem, para bellum," which means "If you want peace, prepare for war." Asked what he needs, Wick, always a man of few words, replies simply, “Guns, lots of guns.”
Once again stuntman Chad Stahelski directs a script by Derek Kolstad (with co-writers Shay Hatten, Chris Collins and Mark Abrams). The director says, “In this chapter, John Wick goes to war with the world. This gives us a chance to go to new places, go deeper into his personal journey and expand the journeys of other characters. For this chapter, we really wanted each of the action sequences to bring a new and different flavour - each gives you a bit more insight and clues into the different elements of who John Wick is and the path he is on.” And it’s true. We learn a lot more about Wick’s background and the secret world he inhabits in this instalment, which gives it something that the plot of John Wick: Chapter 2 lacked – depth. Of course, it goes without saying that Parabellum is still chock-a-block with the franchise’s trade-mark balletic death and destruction, murder and mayhem. Not for nothing does it have an MA15+ classification!
The three films so far (this one definitely sets us up for a fourth) occupy a unique place in the cinematic universe. Part Bond movie, part comic book, part video game, part neo-film noir, there’s a novel look to them; they sit in a kind of timeless world, a steam punk, retro mash-up of time and place. Look closely, for example, at the bureaucratic offices responsible for administering the rules of the High Table. They’re filled with old-fashioned typewriters, antiquated computers and outdated equipment operated by heavily tattooed, pierced women in white sleeveless blouses. It’s like they achieved the advances of the modern age while utilising machines from the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s. The weaponry, too, seems to cover an array of historical periods. And, of course, there’s Wick’s timeless uniform of a black three-piece suit. The cars and motorcycles, though, are definitely up-to-date.
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is a lot of fun, if you like this kind of stylish ultra-violence, and brings back a number of memorable personalities from the earlier films, while introducing us to some very entertaining new ones - some of whom remain alive at the film’s end! This outing has already eclipsed the box office takings of the first two, so it looks like Reeves’ John Wick character will be with us for a while yet. He’s King of the B-movies!