Dir; Chad Stahelski. Starring; Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Ian McShane. R. Color. 130 min.
I am unsure if there has been a film experience in my life that has been both overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time such as “John Wick 3”. The latest installment in the Keanu Reeves shoot-em-up series has no doubt some of the greatest action sequences with some of the dumbest things happening in between. I will say spoilers ahead, but we all know this is going to make so much money that another sequel is obvious.
We begin minutes after the previous adventure with Wick ex-communicado and running for his life in the streets of New York with a 14 million dollar price tag on his head and only a few friends left on his side, plus his dog of course. Wick is up against the entire high council of hitmen and rich people that he was once a member of. “Chapter 3” does not wait to get things started with a library fight that ends unfortunately for a classic novel, or perhaps for the baddie John shoves that book into their face depending on your feelings of classical literature versus killers.
The high council has it out for John and anyone that helps him. Assassin hotel owner Winston (Ian McShane), concierge Charon (Lance Reddick), and head of the New York underground The Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne) are all on their death beds if they assist Wick as the latest bad girl to the series, The Adjucator (Asia Kate Dillon), is tasked with bringing down our anti-hero at all costs.
A bad ass knife fight goes down involving elbows, near crotch shots and multiple shanks taking place as John makes his way towards meeting The Director (Angelica Huston) in hopes of having words with the mysterious head of the high council. And this is where the film dies for a good 20 plus minutes.
After a series of ridiculous events we find John in the Sahara desert where he eventually seeks out the help of an old friend in hiding. Sometimes less plot is a good thing. Sofia (Halle Berry) is an old colleague. Then the dumbest action sequence of the movie takes place. The dog kills are a cool schtick, but after the seventh or eighth one we get the joke and it becomes stale. Also Halle Berry is dialing it in. If I’m looking for a dramatic actor Keanu Reeves is the last person I call. But watching him work action wise next to Berry is one of the most unfair fights, figuratively, in cinema history.
Once that waste of time is over Wick is back in New York with the Yakuza on his ass. Now we’re cooking. A motor cycle sword fight on the bridge with a barrage of chaos is worth the price of admission alone. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. And that isn’t even the final bloodbath, which is a phenomenal piece of action choreography. Until the very end when they go a little bit too jokey.
I sum up “John Wick 3” as a roller coaster of mostly good and some pretty bad sprinkled on top. It is not a bad film by any means. The dogs biting off a bad guys genitals is funny because after all a dog is what started the fun action franchise yet is also in “yeah, we get it” territory. Ten minutes later an unbelievable action sequence takes place where you question how they did it. Fans will enjoy themselves, I did, but admittedly this is the most expensive and least rewarding John Wick Chapter so far. Yet I’d take another installment tomorrow if Keanu is not tired of killing people.
Suck Factor: 3out of 7 (7 means your movie really SUCKS!)
Written by Byrd
The SUCK FACTOR, how it works. We have flipped the rating system upside down. If a film is classic, it gets a 0. Meaning that movie has 0 SUCKS. If a film is complete trash you must avoid at all costs, it gets a 7, meaning this movie really SUCKS!
Greg Squared Films 