Spoilers ahead!
The third installment of the John Wick franchise, John Wick: Parabellum, is now out in theaters. I finally got around to see it, and boy, did I love it!
I won’t spoil much about John Wick 3, but I have to say, it starts pretty damn quickly.
Basically, the movie starts with John running alongside his dog with an ex-communicado (an order to kill) on his head, as a consequence of him breaking the rules of the high table, and killing a member of it on the Continental’s grounds in the previous movie.
What makes it even better is that John has only one hour to save his life before the ex-communicado is in order.
If you’re unfamiliar with John Wick, you might ask, what is this movie and why is everyone talking about it?
Well, John Wick is a movie that follows, well, John Wick. John’s a retired hitman whose wife recently passed away, and he gets pulled back in when a group of thugs steal his car and kill his dog.
A cliché, right?
Well, what makes John Wick not a cliché is the kind of action it entails upon you, and how it gets all the elements together to get you going and excited from the get go.
Also, the franchise has been a massive success since its first movie release in 2014, unexpectedly hit massive strides being compared to successful trilogies like “Taken”.
Worthy to mention that a lot of studios passed on the opportunity to sign on a R-rated action movie, until Lions Gate took the chance and gave it a shot. (And I’m so glad that they did!)
Still, you might ask, what’s so special about John Wick and why is it spiraling into this global franchise with a TV spin-off coming in the ranks?
Well to start it off, John Wick is ridiculous. Yeah, I said it.
The franchise is totally and wholeheartedly crazy and it doesn’t shy away from it, it actually builds the universe from how killing people is seriously easy, to how the violence is really, truly unwarranted. It feels like there is this whole another universe for assassins that exists within the normal universe, and that universe has its own rules that assassins have to abide by.
Secondly, The action choreography of the 3 installments of the franchise is truly amazing, as it is equally violent and brutal as it is entertaining.
Thirdly, the set design of the whole universe, along with the art direction makes you feel that this can be our world, although it isn’t. I mean people get killed in the street and nobody bats an eye or even reacts to what is happening! It’s bat-shit crazy and cool at the same time, don’t ask me how.
Last but not least, Keanu Reeves, who plays John Wick, was kind of in a slump. Despite having made very successful franchises like “Speed” and “The Matrix”, his career hit a bump, as well as his personal life did.
With his sister battling Leukemia, his ex-wife dying in a car crash, and his stardom fading away, the man suffered a lot. John Wick brought us the re-birth to Keanu Reeves’ career. Being a very successful franchise, it got Keanu a lot of other gigs, the latest being in the long-awaited video game, Cyberpunk 2077.
All in all, in my not-so-humble opinion, movies like these is where true, thrilling action excels, and if you want an action movie filled with people beating and killing the shit out of each other, John Wick is your go to!
