TAGGED AS: Action, Martial Arts
We’re one week away from the release of John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum, and the reactions have been very promising. Now the first crop of reviews have arrived online, and the third installment of the Keanu Reeves-led action franchise is being called the best one yet, coming out of the gate with an even higher Tomatometer score of 96%! Even if you question all the violence, you have to admire the technical quality of the action filmmaking involved. And by the end, you won’t just be wanting more John Wick but also spinoffs of the other characters.
Here’s what the critics are saying about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum:
It’s the best film of the franchise so far, even surpassing the first film.
– Mike Ryan, Uproxx
Hands down, the most giddily brutal and bananas film in the series to date.
– Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
Everything about John Wick: Chapter 3 is better than Chapter 2, from the fantastic cinematography to the editing and the score.
– Edward Douglas, The Beat
The choreography by far surpasses anything done in JW1 and it will make you forget JW2 altogether.
– Karen Han, Polygon
Parabellum also has the distinction of being the silliest of the John Wick movies; it’s like watching the live-action adaptation of a cartoon.
– Peter Debruge, VarietyMisses the greatness of Chapter 2 because of a convoluted last act and underdeveloped supporting characters.
– Brian Truitt, USA Today
The year’s best action film, and if anything comes along and surpasses it I shall kneel before the filmmakers and pledge my fealty.
– Sean Mulvihill, fanboynation.com
If you were to ask someone what the greatest action movie ever made was, and they said ‘the first thirty minutes of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum,” they’d have a point.
– William Bibbiani, Bloody Disgusting
With John Wick 3, Reeves has finally made another action movie on par with The Matrix.
– Edward Douglas, The Beat
(Photo by Summit Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection)
Every fight scene here is a sumptuous martial arts infused treat, in which we get a taste of fight-styles from all over the planet, executed by masters of those styles.
– Sherin Nicole, idobi.com
It’s the most incredible action cinema we’ve seen since Mad Max: Fury Road.
– William Bibbiani, Bloody Disgusting
The action is as visually enthralling as impact is destructive.
– Matt Donato, We Got This CoveredJohn Wick: Chapter 3 sounds every bit as brutal as it looks.
– Brent Hankins, The Lamplight ReviewParabellum is so relentless that it often devolves into a numbing flurry of shoulder flips and headshots.
– David Ehrlich, IndieWireAfter a certain point, watching John Wick shoot people in the head starts to weirdly resemble a gardener misting orchids with a spray bottle.
– Andrew Barker, Variety
(Photo by Summit Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection)
It’s the best action scene I’ve seen in at least the last year. (Probably more, but I don’t want to risk getting too hyperbolic.)
– Mike Ryan, UproxxIn a lesser film, [it] would be the one thing everybody talked about on their way out of the theater…Smash glass cabinet; grab knife; throw knife with lethal accuracy; repeat. There’s more to the set piece than that, but you get the idea.
– John DeFore, The Hollywood Reporter
The already infamous set-piece involving Sofia’s dogs grabs you by the knackers.
– Kevin Harley, Games RadarThe most exciting brawl in Parabellum (with the possible exception of a knife fight in a Chinatown antiques store).
– David Ehrlich, IndieWireIt’s the second best action scene I’ve seen in at least the last year. (Probably more, but I don’t want to risk getting too hyperbolic.)
– Mike Ryan, Uproxx
They ought to install seatbelts in theaters for this rip-roaring ride.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh FictionRemain safely seated, with your hands, arms, feet, and legs inside the ride…Parabellum is the movie equivalent of a 3D experience at the amusement park.
– Sherin Nicole, idobi.comThe audience feels each blow in their guts.
– Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly
(Photo by Summit Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection)
Berry delivers a crowd-pleasing turn marked by brutal efficiency in her action scenes.
– Jim Vejvoda, IGN MoviesIt’s Berry leaning into the fray with refined stoicism and swagger who steals the spotlight. Her work here begs for a spin-off.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh FictionI have no doubt people will be demanding a spin-off with her tough-as-nails, dog-loving Sofia.
– JimmyO, Jo Blo’s Movie EmporiumDacascos brings something relatively jovial to this John Wick adversary…not unlike what Toshiro Mifune brought to Kurosawa’s films.
– Edward Douglas, The BeatDacascos goes from stereotypical stoic assassin to the kind of overly earnest bro who’d fit seamlessly into the Fast and Furious franchise. (Give him a spin-off, please!)
– Karen Han, Polygon
(Photo by Summit Entertainment / courtesy Everett Collection)
Anything resembling a plot in Parabellum really exists for one reason: to get us from cool-looking scene to cool-looking scene.
– Alissa Wilkinson, VoxThe gist of the plot is pretty simple: John Wick kills a lot of people. Like, a lot of people.
– David Ehrlich, IndieWireI love the fact that it’s pretty much just John Wick running for his life, stopping every so often to fight assassins.
– Mike Ryan, UproxxWhy, exactly, John is even running gets a little confusing after a while…tries to romanticize his mass murders by suggesting – unconvincingly – that he only wants to stay alive to remember his dead wife.
– William Bibbiani, Bloody Disgusting
In its most enjoyably demented moments, Parabellum is nothing short of a non-stop metaphor for being famous.
– David Ehrlich, IndieWireThe concept of time, and how its relentless march affects fallible heroes, is at the center of John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum.
– Courtney Howard, Fresh FictionIt is not, to be clear, a smart or wise movie — it’s just a really fun one.
– Alissa Wilkinson, Vox
As masterfully executed as the action is, watching two-plus hours of mayhem without any palpable dramatic stakes, or nuance, or any emotion at all save bloodlust offers undeniably diminishing returns.
– Andrew Barker, VarietyThere can be too much of a good thing…Parabellum’s escalation, which feels more fitting of, say, Assassin’s Creed, doesn’t quite hit the mark.
– Karen Han, Polygon
There’s a lot of life left in this series. This isn’t the end for John Wick and the world of The Continental. I’m already planning on checking in again.
– Sean Mulvihill, fanboynation.comI hope Keanu Reeves keeps making these movies forever.
– Mike Ryan, UproxxIf Stahelski and Reeves can continue delivering this kind of quality and consistency, then as far as I’m concerned, they can make a dozen of these films and it still wouldn’t be enough.
– Brent Hankins, The Lamplight Review
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum opens everywhere on May 17.
