{"id":18334,"date":"2019-05-16T15:04:36","date_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=18334"},"modified":"2019-05-16T15:04:36","modified_gmt":"2019-05-16T22:04:36","slug":"action-scenes-are-the-highlight-of-john-wick-chapter-3-parabellum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=18334","title":{"rendered":"Action Scenes are the Highlight of JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 &#8211; PARABELLUM"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10620\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2014 offered a real surprise in the form of the exceptional\naction flick, <em>John Wick<\/em>. The hits kept coming in the 2017 sequel, which\nattempted to explore the inner workings of a criminal underworld and its\nvarious factions. The action continues in <em>John Wick: Chapter 3 &#8211; Parbellum<\/em>,\nwhich pits the hero against, well, just about everybody. Viewers may suffer a\nbit from fatigue and this title&#8217;s inability to tie up loose ends, but the fight\nchoreography on display is phenomenal and should please genre fans. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/John-Wick-3-Rain-1024x546.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18335\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the film begins, John Wick (Keanu Reeves) finds himself\nnot only being excommunicated from the official, umm, well, it&#8217;s kind of a union\nof professional assassins, but also having a $14 million dollar contract on his\nhead. With every hitman gunning for him and friends like Continental hotel\nmanager Winston (Ian McShane) and concierge Cheron (Lance Reddick) unable to\nassist, Wick must escape New York City.\nHe decides to try and locate old acquaintance Sofia\n(Halle Berry)\nin the hopes she can direct him to the head of the organization so that he may convince\nthem to restore his status. Also mixed up in this business is an Adjudicator\n(Asia Kate Dillon), and a skilled killer named Zero (Mark Dacascos), who are\ndetermined to eliminate Wick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first act is so wild and stunt-filled that almost\nnothing else in the feature can top it. Simple and direct (you can literally\nwalk into this film without seeing the second feature and be caught up on the\nplot in about two lines of dialogue), it simply announces that Wick has less\nthan an hour before he is kicked out of his guild and the contract on him goes\nlive. The concerned protagonist races around New York City\nattempting to plan his next move while being monitored by killers all around\nhim, some of whom are considering jumping the starting line to collect the\nreward. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/John-Wick-3-horses-1024x614.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18336\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Three outrageous, fast-paced and wince-inducing action\nscenes follow, with Wick employing everything from books on library shelves, a\n(conveniently placed) series of weapons in display cases, to a stable full of\nhorses in order to help defend himself. These opening 30 or 40 minutes are\ntotally outrageous and endlessly entertaining, with Reeves expertly throwing\nhimself around rooms and fighting it out with bad guys in lengthy, extended\ntakes. The footage is reminiscent of the stellar action from a Hong\n Kong production, standing above most Hollywood\ngenre fare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/John-Wick-3-Parabellum-glass-room-1024x618.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18338\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alas, the middle of the movie slows down somewhat as more\ncharacters are introduced, awkward discussions take place and plot points are\ndivulged. These scenes aren&#8217;t as strong, but at least the new cast members are\namusing, including the smug and officious Adjudicator and the skilled assassin,\nZero. The latter seems absolutely thrilled by the prospect of facing off\nagainst his personal hero. Actor Decascos makes the most of what could have\nbeen a bland part, earning plenty of laughs as he behaves like a fan during his\nconversations with Wick. The pair&#8217;s final battle also matches the high energy\nlevel witnessed during the film&#8217;s opening. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/John-Wick-3-reeeves-dacascos-1024x633.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-18337\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Besides a few repetitive patches, this film does have\nanother element of minor annoyance. It ultimately doesn&#8217;t resolve much of the\nconflict it introduces, and ends up simply setting the stage for yet another\nsequel. After witnessing nearly 360 minutes of onscreen carnage, the thought of\nenduring another two plus hours to complete the seemingly simple story of a\nhitman&#8217;s revenge seems a bit of an over-extension, and one that may leave some\nstarting to feel exhausted. Additionally, it&#8217;s hard to think that the twists,\nturns and shifting allegiances will hold up to much scrutiny upon further\nexamination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, should Reeves return to the fray and deliver action like\nthe moments featured here, this reviewer would take one more trip into this\nkinetic world (just make sure you wrap it all up next time, okay?). In the end <em>John\nWick: Chapter 3 &#8211; Parabellum<\/em> isn&#8217;t going to win any awards for nuanced\nstorytelling or subtlety, but there&#8217;s no topping its fantastic, pulse-pounding\naction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2014 offered a real surprise in the form of the exceptional action flick, John Wick. The hits kept coming in the 2017 sequel, which attempted to explore the inner workings of a criminal underworld and its various factions. The action continues in John Wick: Chapter 3 &#8211; Parbellum, which pits the hero against, well, just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[197,697,1896,4757,8809,9208,9614,10919,10920,10922,11533,11732,12058,13251,15700,18035,18055,19252],"class_list":["post-18334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-197","tag-action","tag-assassin","tag-continental","tag-halle-berry","tag-hit-man","tag-ian-mcshane","tag-john-wick-3","tag-john-wick-chapter-3","tag-john-wick-chapter-3-parabellum","tag-keanu-reeves","tag-killers","tag-lance-reddick","tag-mark-dacascos","tag-parabellum","tag-sequel","tag-series","tag-stunts"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}