Tag: John Wick

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum

Post author By Mark
Post date May 24, 2019

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is brutal. There’s no other word to describe the 2 hour action-fest from returning series director Chad Stahelski. But despite it’s lengthy title John Wick 3 is lean and mean. Wasting no time on extraneous dialogue or set-ups, the film gets on with the action straight away, and how bloody that action is. Just when you think they can’t top the action of the previous film, Stahelski delivers the most impressive set-pieces in the franchise to date (and possibly action movie history), as well as bringing us attack dogs led by Halle Berry. If that doesn’t get you in the cinema, stop reading now.

Parabellum picks up immediately after the events of Chapter 2, continuing the saga of John Wick’s hellish week which began so long ago with his poor puppy’s death. Injured and on the run, Wick has an hour to prepare himself before the contract on his head goes public. Stahelski uses this brief prologue sequence to dial up the tension of the coming conflict, having John run across New York city through the rain and past numerous assassins – each hiding in plain sight amongst the public to take stock of their soon-to-be prey. When the clock chimes 6pm, the chaos unleashes and it’s from that point on that we as viewers barely get a chance to catch our breath. The third instalment in the franchise is almost non-stop action, opting for an extra gun fight or motorbike chase rather than further exploration of its underground assassin society. We’re given a few extra details around the assassin world that further the plot and I admire the choice not to double down again after the extensive world building of previous films. We’ve spent enough time in this world to be familiar with how it works and Stahelski relies on the incredible skills of his stunt performers and actors to entertain us, rather than drowning us in world-building exposition. When the final act kicks into gear it really is a spectacle to behold, and the continued emotional connection we’ve developed with Wick throughout the franchise means you’re on the edge of your seat as he faces off against some impossible odds.

As I’ve mentioned, the action here is not just another step, but a giant leap up in terms of scope and duration. Chapter 3 features about as many action scenes as the last two films combined, if not more, and it’s almost exhausting to watch in the best possible way. As a viewer you’re always tense and fearful for John as he escapes countless near death situations, and it takes its toll on you by the time the credits have rolled. My favourite fight scene of the film – and you have plenty to choose from – involved Wick facing off against a group of shinobi in a hallway lined with cabinets of knives. What starts off as a thrilling hand-to-hand martial arts fight quickly escalates once the knives (and axes) come into play, and I was transfixed as the camera spun around to keep me deep in the action – while still showing what every player in the scene was doing at any given time. This type of camerawork showcases the impressive work of Keanu Reeves and the stunt teams as the long pans and fixed angle shots allow us to see the action in all its glory. It’s something that’s not exactly new here – all the action in the series has been consistently well shot – however it’s taken up a notch here by the scale of the fights and some impressive additions to the stunt performers.

Newcomers to the franchise Cecep Arif Rahman and Yayan Ruhian get a chance to show why they are two of the finest working stunt actors in the world today. Known for their work in The Raid series, the two actors square off against Keanu in a martial-arts heavy fight scene, with many winks and nods thrown in to their previous stunt work, as well as an acknowledgement of the friendly rivalry between The Raid and John Wick franchises – arguably two of the best action franchises around today. They are joined by another fresh face Mark Dacascos, who plays shinobi leader Zero. Not only does Dacascos showcase his impressive stunt abilities, squaring off against many enemies with brutal efficiency and acrobatic skill, he also brings some much needed levity to the proceedings – Zero is something of a fan-boy of John Wick and makes no effort to hide it. Humour has never been this franchises strong point but it’s a welcome addition here that lets off some of the tension built up through the action.

Returning franchise veterans Ian McShane and Lawrence Fishburne reprise their roles as Winston and the Bowery King respectively, delivering some of their finest work to date. McShane in particular has a much larger role than in previous instalments, dealing with the consequences of aiding John in the last film. He plays the role with his usual stoic charm, but underpinned this time around with fear and anger. The Adjudicator, a new character played by Asia Kate Dillon, is instrumental in bringing out these emotions, acting as a representative of the High Table – the rulers of the assassin world – who aim to bring Winston and the Bowery King to justice for their association with the excommunicated Wick. Dillon plays the role with a little too much smugness and the character simply becomes annoying to listen to rather than instilling a sense of dread – taking away the impact of the news she delivers to the various high-ranking assassins in the film. The last character worth noting here is Sofia, played by Halle Berry, who makes a triumphant return to the action genre here (I’m talking specifically about her role in Die Another Day: a guilty pleasure). Whilst it’s not the best performance of hers in terms of acting quality, Berry did perform all her own stunts and the skills she puts on display, particularly her proficiency with guns, is exciting to watch. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the attack dogs again – Sofia’s personal hounds who bring some truly vicious punishments down on anyone unwise enough to cross her and John. It’s yet another example of how the franchise plays with the notions of conventional action cinema and I was constantly scanning the scene for the next entrance of the dogs.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum does what you didn’t think was possible and ups the ante from the last film. Whilst the acting and story take a backseat to the action here, it’s s conscious choice and easily forgivable when the action is this good. Chad Stahelski and Keanu Reeves have cemented themselves as a winning partnership in action cinema with this film, and in traditional John Wick style, leave the ending open for more adventures of the expert assassin. It’s hard to believe they can top this, but if anyone can do it, it’s this pair and they have more than earned our trust at this point.

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum stars Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane, Lawrence Fishburne, Asia Kate Dillon & Mark Dacascos – in cinemas now.

Tags Chad Stahelski, Halle Berry, John Wick, John Wick Chapter 3, Keanu Reeves, Parabellum

Movie Reviews

John Wick: Chapter 2

Post author By Mark
Post date May 19, 2019

Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski struck gold in 2014 with the original John Wick. The pair crafted a tight, brutal action revenge film and created an iconic action character in the titular assassin. The story seemingly ended in that film, as John had found a new furry companion and walked away having settled his debt and avenged his previous canine companion. The unexpected financial success of the film, however, prompted a sequel to be put together, and while John Wick: Chapter 2 falls prey to some typical action sequel clichés, it still manages to be an engaging, even more brutal adventure into the assassin underworld.

Chapter 2 kicks off with a bang as we follow Wick tying up some loose ends with the Russian mob from the first film. This acts as an epilogue of sorts for the previous film but also as a chance to showcase the bigger budget and the fights that will come as a result. Once John returns from this mission and attempts to settle back into his retirement, he is greeted by Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), head of an Italian mob family and an old acquaintance. Santino is the holder of a “marker” against John, a blood oath Wick struck years earlier that allowed him to escape from his criminal life and live with his wife – but now D’Antonio has come to collect. A globe trotting tour of assassinations and criminal syndicates follow as John is sent on a mission to take out Santino’s sister and heir to the council of assassins who essentially run the global underworld.

If all this sounds a bit confusing and ridiculous it’s because it is. The film makes it clear that it is foregoing a cohesive plot in favour of more complex fights and bigger stunts to go with that increased sequel budget. While the plot for the first film wasn’t exactly groundbreaking, it had a solid pace and moved with purpose as we followed John on his singular path for revenge. Here we fall into action clichés as John moves from room to room full of goons on his way to completing his mission. Once things develop further later in the run, the plot gets even murkier and I was unsure where John even was until we got a handy pan of the New York skyline as a reminder. While you are never bored watching, it is a shame that the story doesn’t do more to propel John on his way, instead opting in favour of abrupt shifts in location as we watch Wick adapt to each new situation he finds himself in. While not everything is a home run, writer Derek Kolstad is clearly taking risks in his screenplay, adding huge chunks of mythos to the assassin world and expounding on the first movie’s lore tenfold. The Italian settings make for a shift in environment that sets the action set pieces apart from the American counterparts of the first film, giving them their own distinct visual flair.

Where the increased budget has been put to use is the action. John Wick: Chapter 2 ups the ante significantly from the first film, delivering larger, more intense action scenes which expand from purely hand-to-hand fights through to vehicle combat and some magnificently shot chase scenes. The hand-to-hand scenes feature plenty more goons for Wick to cut through with his signature brand of Gun-fu, with Reeves one again performing majority of the stunts himself – allowing for long, uninterrupted shots of the action to be shown. These are beautiful to watch as Wick manoeuvres himself across a room cutting down everyone in his path, and they’re made even more stunning when they’re set in locations like a museum’s hall of mirrors or a brightly lit, futuristic train station. The chase scene in the train station is worth mentioning, and was easily the highlight of the film for me, as John attempts to outrun several rival assassins all intent on bringing him down. The scene moves back and forth between an all out chase as John sprints away from his enemies, taking down any in his path, and a stealthy escape as he tries to hide in plain sight, blending with the public. This stealth scene is particularly innovative because it also acts as a silent shootout of sorts, with Wick and his enemies taking shots at each other with silenced weapons. It all culminates in a thrilling train showdown with another assassin, a truly tense scene where each fighter vies for supremacy in the tight space of the carriage. It is quality action like this that make me overlook the fact that the public has no concern whatsoever about bodies piling up in their midst.

I mentioned before that Chapter 2 expands the assassin world, and this is evident in the introduction of several new characters. The character played by Ruby Rose, a deaf & mute assassin, could have been something more if it was portrayed by a more talented actor. It’s certainly an interesting concept, however Rose does nothing with the role and it boils down to her serving Wick with looks that say “I don’t like you very much” as she proceeds to try to kick him in the face. A better portrayed, if still not amazing, killer is Cassian, played by rapper Common, a bodyguard for Wick’s target who has a murky history with John. He definitely has more to work with in his role than Ruby Rose, and his past experiences with John makes for some great dialogue exchanges and fights. By far the best of the newcomers is Lawrence Fishburne, who plays the Bowery King, leader of an underground syndicate of assassins who pose as homeless around New York. Reeves and his The Matrix co-star obviously have great chemistry and their dialogue together pops. Fishburne excels at playing the unhinged leader, going for the same kind of over-the-top reactions and hyperbole in his dialogue that made Michael Nyqvist’s villain from the first movie so much fun to watch.

Whilst John Wick: Chapter 2 doubles down on the action and world building that made the first film so great, its nonsensical story detracts and leaves viewers confused about the significance of the fight they are watching. It’s hard to care about the outcome of a fight when we’re not exactly sure why John is in this particular mess. What does keep us invested, however, is another stellar performance from Keanu Reeves, who continues to give it his all, both in his acting and his stunt-work. We’re now so emotionally invested in the character that we will follow him anywhere and I can’t wait to see what awaits him in the next instalment of the franchise.

John Wick: Chapter 2 stars Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Ian McShane, Ruby Rose, Common & Riccardo Scarmarcio – Available to view on streaming and home entertainment now.

Tags Common, John Wick, John Wick: Chapter 2, Keanu Reeves, Lawrence Fishburne, Ruby Rose

Movie Reviews

John Wick

Post author By Mark
Post date May 16, 2019

John Wick is for Keanu Reeves what Taken was for Liam Neeson. At a time when Reeves was churning out sub-par dramas and straight-to-DVD atrocities, this was a breath of fresh air and resurgence for Reeves to shoot back into the public consciousness. The revival is well earned too, John Wick is a demonstration of a perfectly crafted revenge film, with copious amounts of blood, intense hand-to-hand combat and one seriously cute dog that sparks a night of complete carnage.

If you haven’t seen John Wick – which is unlikely given that it is one of the most popular action flicks in recent memory, and the third film in the franchise is set to hit cinema screens soon – it revolves around Reeves as the titular “reformed” assassin. I use quotation marks here because in this world no one really ever gets out of the hitman game, and while John may think he has found peace with his new wife, her untimely death rattles him to his core. Add to that the fact that Russian mobsters have recently murdered his newly befriended puppy – the last gift his dying wife gave him – and you have one seriously pissed-off Keanu Reeves on the loose. One of the best weapons in the film’s arsenal is the build-up to Wick unleashing his inner-assassin. We spend the first 40 minutes of the film building the character of John as a man coming to grips with the loss of his wife and transferring that love and affection to his new pet, and watching other people react to the news that Iosef (Alfie Allen), the son of Russian mob boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), has killed Wick’s beloved beagle. To say John has a reputation is an understatement, and after all this build-up it’s immensely satisfying to watch his skills in action after we’ve heard so much about them. You’re always rooting for Wick because we have that emotional investment, and it’s a good thing too, because John does some pretty horrifying stuff to some people.

In a genre flooded with mediocrity and boring, repetitive action, it was a stroke of genius to hire long-time stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski to make his directing debut here. Stahelski clearly has a grip on how to film a convincing fight scene and all the action is shot beautifully. There is clearly a focus on practical stunts here and the cinematography benefits from this greatly. We get plenty of long shots that don’t cut away like most conventional action scenes and this allows us to see the brilliant work of the stunt performers. It also means the viewer is never lost in a fight scene and always has a sense of the geography and where the major players are. John Wick was also a major proponent of the “Gun-Fu” fighting style which had mostly been confined to Hong Kong action films previously. This involves Kung-Fu style action sequences using guns instead of more traditional weapons and it is absolutely breathtaking to watch. The fact that it really is Keanu Reeves in most of these action scenes is a testament to his craft in particular. A great example comes through a midnight siege on a busy night club; the way the lighting, music and action all mix together is so engaging – easily making it the best club fight scene in action movie history.

The story also takes a deep dive into world-building, providing a fair amount of lore, which is expanded upon in the sequels. Once he decides upon revenge, John operates out of a hotel which acts as an assassin headquarters of sorts, where every service necessary to perform a hit is offered; from gaining access to kill contracts to accessing the services of a clean-up crew to tidy up a vicious murder scene. It all serves to immerse you in the world, as well as serving as a story device, and it shows that writer Derek Kolstad has put that little bit of extra care into the script rather than serving up another paint-by-numbers Taken knock-off. What also helps to deepen the world and the lore is the characters that populate John Wick. From the Hotel Manager (Lance Reddick) who explains the hotels rules and offers their multitude of services, to Adrianne Palicki as rival assassin Ms. Perkins. They all flesh out the film and have their own unique personalities and traits, making it so much more enjoyable than just watching John cut through a room full of goons.

I mentioned that this was a film instrumental in Reeves’ comeback and it’s because he delivers some of his finest acting work here, in addition to the action previously touched on. While it may not require some of the dialogue heavy scenes of some of his earlier work, the amount of emotion and intensity conveyed through looks and body language is astonishing. John Wick barely speaks in the first 30 minutes and we’re so invested in his story and understand his loving relationship with his wife and dog perfectly. Other standouts in the film include Ian McShane who plays hotel owner Winston with the perfect mixture of snark and warmness, and Alfie Allen, who – fresh off his work as Theon Greyjoy in Game of Thrones at the time – really gets to play with the role, making Iosev Tarasov a disgusting, spoilt character that we are actively cheering on Wick to deal with. Michael Nyqvist plays the arch-villain of the film with a little more over-the-top dramatic flair – providing memorable so-bad-they’re-good lines such as “He’s not the Boogeyman. He’s the one you send to kill the Boogeyman”. It comes across as almost a tribute to the ridiculous action film villains of the 80’s, albeit toned down to fit with the rest of the film, and it really is good fun to watch him chew the scenery as he reacts to Wick murdering his way though the mob.

While it may be easy to just accept the John Wick franchise as the beast that it has become today, the first film came seemingly out of nowhere at the time and injected some much needed energy and Gun-Fu into a stale action genre. The importance of the film on the genre as it stands today cannot be understated. John Wick is a master-class in action cinema, combining quality performances from an all-star cast led by a resurgent Keanu Reeves with intense, vicious action that places it among the very best of modern action movies.

John Wick stars Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Ian McShane and Adrianne Palicki and is available to view on streaming and home entertainment now.

Tags Alfie Allen, Chad Stahelski, Ian McShane, John Wick, Keanu Reeves, Lionsgate