John Wick 3: Parabellum begins immediately after the ending of John Wick 2 which saw the film franchise’s namesake guns down Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scamarcio), a member of the mysterious High Table, the shadowy council that oversees the rules and regulations of assassins around the globe, after the powerful man forced him out of retirement as the world’s most deadly assassin. As a result, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) finds himself excommunicated from the underground world of contract killers and the target of a $14 million bounty himself. With the help of familiar allies such as Winston (Ian McShane) and The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) and new friends The Director (Anjelica Huston) and Sofia (Halle Berry), Wick must fight his way through the streets of New York as he becomes the target of the world’s most ruthless killers.
While John Wick’s fantastic action choreography and set pieces are the franchise’s calling card, what has separated the series from its peers is the world-building present in each film. From the first surprise hit through Parabellum, the audience has been teased with a little about the underground world of assassins at a time; treating us with bits slowly whether it’s the Continental Hotel (lodging and sanctuary for assassins owned by Winston), to the existence of a “high table” of leaders that set the rules for all assassins globally, or the reveal that the homeless person you pass on the street everyday going to work could be a hidden, highly trained professional killer lying in wait. This slow pullback of the curtain keeps you enthralled in the world of John Wick and wanting another film just so you can see a little bit more. Audiences are also treated to a crumb hinting at new mysteries from John Wick’s past, learning that John Wick is not his given name and that his roots are in the former Soviet Union, where he first embarked upon the shadowy path of an assassin. The same careful and deliberate unveiling of the world of John Wick also extends to the man himself, we us being treated to just enough to feel as if we learned something in this film, but with even more to learn in further iterations. And from this careful world-building of the lives of the assassins’ comes the film’s burgeoning theme from John Wick 2 to Parabellum, the establishment of rules, who has to follow them, and when they can be broken.
The drama in the series has stemmed from the breaking of the established order in the underground world of assassins, whether it’s John’s being pulled away from his retirement and grief and over the loss of his wife due to an overprivileged kid’s brutality or his own disregard of The Continental’s no killing on hotel grounds policy. The famous saying “Out of chaos comes order” has recently gained some scientific backing and the plot thread that began with John Wick and leads us to Parabellum makes it clear that disorder can lead to order, that stability is paramount even in the most chaotic environments. The system on which the brutal world of assassins is built depends on the following of the established order, the inability to kill on neutral ground (e.g. the Continental), the excommunication of those that don’t abide and the need of all other assassins to not provide aid & comfort to those who are banished. For such a cutthroat industry to survive the ages, those participating in it must adhere to how it operates. Parabellum presents John and his allies as upsetting the order that arises from disorder, putting that entire world at risk.
But as the film’s protagonist, John’s story leads the audience to question whether strict adherence to rules and order at the expense of one’s own well-being and peace of mind is an appropriate way to live. At each turn, John was forced into the path he took for reasons that all can relate to. If there is no room for diversion from rules for his sake, no grey area, how valuable is the established order anyway? Not accidentally, this is a question our society is wrestling with in real life at the moment, making the John Wick series more relevant and topical past its entertaining and stylish action than the audience may even realize. John’s quest for vengeance also brings him to a crossroads as to the person he wants to be, crystallizing the journey we saw him begin in the first film. His current brutal quest for survival is the complete opposite of the calm retiree he was when we first saw. This is alluded to visually by director of the film Chad Stahelski when John first enters a theater in Manhattan to meet The Director. The theater is featuring a ballet titled A Tale of Two Wolves as shown on the classic theater marquee,calling to mind the old parable about Two Wolves usually attributed to Indigenous Americans that serves as a metaphor for inner conflict. Much like the two wolves in the legend, John is dueling between his wish to return to peaceful solitude to grieve his wife and his need to punish those who pulled him away from said solitude in the first place. Later in the film, we see Winston confront John over this very tug-and-pull in a pivotal moment, asking John who he chooses to become, or which wolf he will choose to feed using the metaphor from the legend. Sofia’s twin pet canines presence in the story only serve to further bolster the metaphor. The inclusion of this inner conflict for John is an excellent piece of character development that lifts the film and franchise as a whole.
But fear not, John Wick fans, the high octane, brutal action that audiences have come to see from these films is back in full force, from the very beginning of the film where we’re treated to a well choreographed fight between Reeves and a guest appearance from LA Clipper Boban Marjanovic. The action in the film is also varied, branching off from just the “gun fu” that it has become famous for, but also well executed hand-to-hand combat, knife and sword fights, and even a long, stunning sequence involving attack dogs integrated into a long gun battle with varied, moving camera angles. While watching Parabellum, I also realized how underrated the John Wick franchise’s production design is when accounting for its success. The antique classic design of The Continental, the futuristic look of the administration lounge within the hotel, the neon noir look of New York City, all of these sleek, eye-popping designs go a long way in establishing the series visual appeal. The New York City that the assassins of John Wick’s world occupy is one for wayward souls, where the contract killers look to disappear and blend in. This is subtly referenced with John’s trek to Casablanca to seek help from Sofia. The iconic 1942 film of the same name is famous for having portrayed the Moroccan city in much of the same way and the nod to the classic film here is a welcome touch for cinephiles.
John Wick 3: Parabellum combines the frenetic, well choreographed action scenes we’ve come to love with a plot full of added substance that separates the film from simple action fare. The theme of established order and John’s internal conflict is well done and thought provoking, complimented visually with subtle references courtesy of director Chad Stahelski. The action scenes add variation from the gun fu the series has become know for and expand into hand-to-hand combat, and sword and knife fights, avoiding repetition and giving the audience more to be stimulated by. Parabellum also exhibits expert pacing, mixing the action with plot development and exposition in a perfect balance of both that advances the story and keeps viewers entertained and away from boredom. The aesthetic of New York City that has been established in the series is present here, with the underrated production design on full display with beautiful set pieces in various locations. The combination of the familiar, infusion of new concepts, and hints toward more mysteries to uncover makes Parabellum a hit and John Wick 4 highly anticipated.
Image: Lionsgate
