JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 REVIEW: THE BABA YAGA RETURNS IN THE MOST BRUTAL ENTRY YET
Rating: 4.5/5
The English language offers conflicting insight into how we should regard the third installment in a film franchise. "Two's company; three's a crowd" would suggest that one sequel is plenty and a second one is overkill. But then we have the old standby "third time's a charm," suggesting that a third film can put the figurative cherry on top of the cinematic sundae.
So where does John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum fall on the continuum of idiomatic expressions?
Firmly in the latter camp.
The third entry in Midas Productions' increasingly elaborate assassin saga is not just a worthy continuation of the first two films. It is, in many ways, the franchise operating at full confidence. Bigger, badder, and bloodier than before, Parabellum proves that the John Wick series still has plenty of ammunition left.
The franchise began when the script written by Derek Kolstad was bought by Daniel Adler to become the first film from his brand-new production company, Midas. It has now become one of modern action cinema's most reliable machines. Adler trusted the project to two newcomers, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, and that trust was not misplaced. The first John Wick was a surprise blast of clean, brutal action filmmaking. The sequel was greenlit as soon as the first movie was released, and Chapter 2, which had Chad Stahelski taking the reins solo, expanded the world without losing the purity of the character. Now, Parabellum takes everything that worked in those first two films and pushes it further.
If you loved the first two movies, you will love this one even more.
The opening forty-five minutes are an astonishing masterclass in fight choreography, stunt work, and action cinematography. The initial set pieces produce the same "holy shit, they did not just do that" reaction that made the first two films such instant favorites among action fans. An antique weapons shop fight becomes a ballet of knives, axes, glass cases, and increasingly desperate improvisation. A subsequent brawl in a stable somehow turns horses into one of the most satisfying weapons in the movie.
It is ridiculous.
It is beautiful.
It is exactly what you want and expect from a John Wick movie.
What continues to separate these films from so much modern action is their clarity. The cinematography and editing do not take the easy route. Instead of choppy, confusing fights that become an indecipherable blur of flying arms and legs, Parabellum relies on long takes, wide shots, and choreography that lets you actually see the physical work. The action unfolds with an almost musical precision.
The film also continues to deepen the mythology of the Wick-verse. The second film opened the doors to the High Table, the Continental, blood markers, and the strange rituals that govern this world of assassins. Parabellum pushes even further into a new dimension without overcomplicating things. It shows how vast the world around John Wick has become while still keeping the story grounded.
The supporting cast is excellent. Ian McShane and Lance Reddick return as Winston and Charon, the manager and concierge of the Continental, and both continue to make the assassin hotel feel like the coolest and most dangerous place in New York. Mark Dacascos is a terrific addition as Zero, a killer in the employ of the High Table who is tasked with bringing Wick to justice. The character could have easily been a standard villain, but Dacascos plays him with such admiration for John that the conflict gains a streak of dark humor. Zero does not just want to kill John Wick. He is thrilled to be in the same room as him. It is like a diehard action-movie nerd being asked to murder his favorite movie star.
Katie Mcgrath also joins the franchise as the Adjudicator, an administrator for the High Table tasked with closing out John Wick's file and punishing those who helped him.
And then there is Halle Berry as Sofia. Her section of the movie is one of its biggest highlights. Sofia, a former hitwoman who wants nothing more than to stay retired, is dragged back into the chaos because of old debts and old rules. Her fight sequence involving trained attack dogs is one of the most thrilling action scenes in the entire franchise, though it does feel like it drags on a little too long.
Keanu Reeves remains the soul of the whole thing. He plays John Wick perfectly: exhausted, hurt, angry, still grieving, and still moving forward because stopping would mean dying, and dying would mean letting the people who took everything from him win.
Midas continues its streak of smart, filmmaker-driven genre movies here. It would have been easy for this franchise to become louder, messier, and more generic by the third entry. Instead, Parabellum feels like the natural escalation of everything the first two films promised: bigger action, stranger mythology, more elaborate set pieces, and a growing sense that the John Wick universe still has a lot more to offer.
And that seems to be the plan.
Two spin-offs are already in development, and based on how Parabellum ends, it certainly looks like a fourth film is on the way as well. The world of John Wick is expanding.
So, to see? Or not to see? That is the question.
If you have seen the first two John Wick films, you do not need me to convince you. You are already headed to the theater, and maybe more than once. If you have not seen the previous films, just know that Mr. Wick broke some rules, killed a great many people, and now his former colleagues are very, very upset with him.
See it on the biggest screen you can find. IMAX, Dolby, whatever your theater offers.
It is a spectacle.
Nothing more.
Nothing less.
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JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 TRACKING FOR $500M+ WORLDWIDE
John Wick: Chapter 3 is on track to become the biggest film in the franchise by a huge margin, with industry analysts now projecting the action sequel to finish with over $500 million worldwide, surpassing the already impressive $470 million earned by John Wick: Chapter 2.
The film opened strongly both domestically and internationally before holding exceptionally well in its second and third weekends, driven by excellent reviews, strong audience scores, and the continued popularity of Keanu Reeves' legendary assassin.
Current projections place the film in the $520 million to $580 million range globally if momentum continues.
Part of what makes the John Wick franchise stand out is its consistency. All three John Wick films have managed to land with both critics and audiences, something that has become increasingly rare in blockbuster filmmaking.
Audience reception has been especially strong.
The film currently holds:
Rotten Tomatoes Critics Score: 91%
Audience Score: 98%
CinemaScore: A
The film is yet another success for Midas Productions, which originally acquired the John Wick script years ago after Daniel Adler personally pushed for the project. Adler then hired Chad Stahelski and Derek Kolstad to direct the first film, helping launch what has now become one of the defining action franchises of the decade.
The success of Chapter 3 continues Midas' remarkable streak following films like The Revenant, Birdman, and The Thing.
Coming back to John Wick, it seems the universe is set to expand even further. Two spin-offs are currently in development, according to sources close to Midas, as the studio looks to expand the assassin underworld into a larger cinematic universe. Judging by the ending of Chapter 3, audiences likely will not have to wait long for another mainline sequel. A fourth John Wick film is now considered all but inevitable.
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The car moved away from the airport, slipping into London traffic as I leaned back in the seat and closed my eyes.
It had been an eleven-hour flight from Los Angeles to London, which meant my body had decided to hate me. I had slept a little on the plane, but not enough.
I was in England for what was going to be a very busy week.
First, visits to the sets of both Dune and World's Finest. Then, a big meeting at Games Workshop headquarters.
With me in the car were Paul and Graves. Graves sat across from me, phone to her ear, speaking in a professional tone while handling some business issue I had only half-listened to before deciding I did not have the mental capacity for it right now. That was her job as my PA. My job, at the moment, was to not fall asleep with my mouth open.
Paul sat beside me, also on the phone, flipping through a message.
A few minutes passed like that. Then Paul looked away from his phone and turned to me.
"Adding Misery to the list," he said, "our entire active production budget has crossed half a billion."
I opened one eye.
"I expected more."
Paul slowly turned to me.
"It's a lot, Danny."
"Let's see," I said, sitting up slightly. "The Usual Suspects, Bad Times at the El Royale, Ready or Not, Misery, Extraction 2, Atomic Blonde, John Wick 4, Ballerina, Dune, and five more projects we're funding, most of which look promising."
Paul stared at me.
"Two of those movies are with Netflix," I continued. "The others are projected to be profitable. I mean, you are the one who is so sure Dune will more than break even."
"So relax, Paul. We're not going under."
"You say that like half a billion dollars is pocket change."
"For Midas? For me?"
He gave me a look.
I shrugged. "What is Midas worth now? Four billion?"
Paul nodded reluctantly. "Around that, yes."
"What am I worth now? Twenty billion?"
He nodded.
"So we're fine."
"All it takes is one bad movie, Daniel."
"I'm not worried, my friend," I said. "Our entire active production budget is half a billion, which we will make back and even profit from." I laughed. "Even with that, we still haven't crossed the clusterfuck of a production that is World's Finest."
"I've been meaning to ask you about that."
"Oh, have you?"
"Danny," he said, leaning toward me, "what the fuck is going on with that movie?"
I looked out the window.
"Define going on."
"How much is the budget now?"
I sighed.
"Five hundred and fifty million."
Paul went very still.
"And that's final," I added quickly. "Dave told me it's final."
Paul stared at me, wide-eyed.
"With marketing?"
I laughed out loud. "Fuck no. With marketing? Pretty sure the final sum is going to be in the seven hundreds."
"Jesus Christ."
"Might need to invoke a few more gods for the full effect."
"What the fuck? Even that Star Wars movie never made it this far."
"True. True."
"That is not supposed to make it better."
I leaned back again. "Paulie, I'll be honest with you. From what I've seen of the movie so far, I think it'll be worth it."
"Five hundred and fifty million worth it?"
"Yes."
He looked horrified.
"Pretty sure we'll break even."
"Break even?" Paul repeated. "You need at least $1.5 billion to break even."
"Yeah, maybe more."
Paul only shook his head.
The reason World's Finest cost that much was mostly because of the director Victor had secured for us.
George Miller.
The man was making one hell of a movie. He had taken my treatment and used it to write a script that was one of the best in the DCU, and that was saying something. He had gone into pre-production at the beginning of 2016, which was needed because Miller did not plan to make this a full CGI fest. The movie had huge practical sets, massive stunt teams, and was shot in real locations like Iceland and Jordan. It used new, expensive technology like virtual production and advanced stage environments.
It was not one thing that made the budget insane.
It was everything.
The movie had actually wrapped main filming at the beginning of the year, but now they were doing small reshoots. Small reshoots that added $10 million more to the budget.
Dave and the rest of the executives at DC and Stardust would have revolted if not for the potential we saw in the film. And, to be fair, it was not like no movie had ever cost this much before. The last Star Wars film had cost around $535 million without marketing. Still insane, but at least it meant we were not breaking new ground in financial irresponsibility.
Dave, Victor, Sam, and I had already seen what Miller had cooked up during an early footage screening two months ago.
What I saw there had blown every movie we had made before out of the water visually.
And I did not say that lightly.
Justice League looked incredible. Man of Tomorrow looked incredible. The Green Lanterns was a visual spectacle.
But World's Finest, I think, would finally be the movie that everyone would measure visual spectacles against. People were going to lose their minds when they finally saw it.
If it did not, due to some of the worst bad luck in the history of the planet, then congratulations to me and DC for helping fund one of the most expensive mistakes in cinema history.
My thoughts were interrupted by Graves ending her call.
She lowered the phone and looked at me.
"Your next mocap sessions are scheduled two weeks from now."
I blinked.
"Oh. Great."
There were very few things that could make John and Matt genuinely jealous of me anymore. The money? They had a lot of that as well now. The fame? They mostly used mine to mock me.
But this?
This had gotten to them. A gaming company had come to me with the idea and story, and I had said yes almost immediately.
I looked at Graves.
"Why couldn't I have done the whole thing two months ago?"
"Because you were there for only three days," Graves said. "They asked for two weeks."
Those acting lessons from Margot had actually helped, I thought, remembering the session. They had scanned my face thoroughly, every angle and every expression. Then I had acted out a scene in a suit covered in little markers while people watched me move around an empty stage pretending things were there.
The car slowed as we reached the studio gates.
A security guard checked the vehicle, then waved us through. The lot opened up ahead of us, huge soundstages rising under the gray English sky.
We had arrived at the studio where World's Finest was being shot.
The car pulled up near one of the stages.
A production coordinator hurried over to meet us, followed by two assistants wearing headsets.
"Mr. Adler," the coordinator said. "Welcome. They're at Stage Four."
As soon as we stepped inside the stage, the first person I saw was Jason Momoa.
Which was hard not to do.
The man was clad fully in his Lobo costume: pale skin, black markings, massive boots, leather, chains, the whole thing. He looked as if Lobo had walked out of the comic book itself. Ridiculously perfect.
"DANNY!" Jason yelled the moment he saw me.
His voice carried across the stage, making three crew members turn.
He walked toward me laughing, arms already opening for a hug. I matched his enthusiasm and stepped forward, then immediately moved back before he could grab me.
"Nope," I said, holding up both hands. "Don't want to ruin that." I motioned at his makeup-covered body.
Jason looked down at himself, then back at me.
"Oh, it's fine," he said.
"It is not fine. That looks like it took ten hours."
"Only six." He laughed and slapped me on the shoulder instead.
"Man, I did not expect to be back in this so soon," Jason said, grinning.
Jason had been cast as Lobo pretty much the same day he asked for the role on the set of Game of Thrones Season 1.
Lobo was going to be in World's Finest in a major role. He was added in by Miller himself, and I felt it made the movie way better.
Jason walked with me as Paul and Graves followed a few steps behind, both looking around at the sheer scale of the stage.
"So," Jason said, looking me up and down.
"You been working out?"
"No. Barely have time for that."
"Yeah, I can tell."
I stopped walking and looked at him.
"You're getting a little chubby, brother."
"I am not getting chubby."
He poked my stomach.
I slapped his hand away.
"You need the gym. Come with me while you're here. I'll whip you back into shape like last time."
A cold memory passed through my head, and I felt it in my body as well. Jason's idea of a workout was not a workout. It was literal torture.
The last time I had gone to the gym with him, I had spent three days walking like my legs had been replaced by jelly.
"No, thank you," I said immediately.
Jason laughed.
"Come on."
"No."
"It'll be fun."
"I nearly died last time."
He was still laughing when George Miller saw us coming and waved.
George was standing and talking with Jensen and Henry, both of whom were in costumes I could only describe as gladiatorial.
Henry's Superman suit had been stripped down. It was still recognizable, still carrying the symbol, but the colors were darker, dirtier, and scuffed by battle. There were leather straps, metal restraints, and bruises painted across his skin. Jensen looked like he was wearing an armored version of his Batsuit, but half-destroyed.
They looked fantastic.
George smiled as we arrived.
"Daniel."
"Good to see you again, George."
We shook hands.
I turned to Henry and Jensen.
"And look at you two," I said. "We should just put this image on the poster and call it a day."
"Hey, what about me?" Jason asked, faux offended.
"With you, even better."
George smiled faintly, then nodded toward the stage.
"We can finish in three days," he said. "So you can tell Mr. Steiner I won't delay any longer."
"I just came to see you work your magic, George," I said. "Not to pester you."
"Good," he said. "Because with this, the movie is perfected."
I looked past him at the set.
The virtual production LED screens surrounded the stage, massive walls displaying a harsh alien landscape of Warworld. The ground underfoot was practical, covered with dust and metal debris.
Claes Bang stood near the center, wearing a stand-in version of the Mongul costume. Motion-capture markers were placed over parts of the suit and his face.
George glanced at us.
"We must start soon," he said. "Jason, let's talk."
Jason gave me one more grin.
"Gym later."
"No."
"Yes."
"No."
He laughed and followed George, the two moving away to discuss the scene.
I turned to Henry and Jensen.
"So," I asked, "how are the reshoots?"
Jensen shrugged. "Not as bad as Iceland or Jordan."
Henry nodded and looked at Jensen. "You shouldn't have to complain. I mean, you had an air-conditioned suit when we shot in the desert."
Henry turned to me. "I had to do it shirtless."
"Perks of being Batman, I guess," Jensen added with smirk.
The shooting continued soon after.
I stood near the monitors with Paul, Graves, and the rest of the small army required to make George Miller's madness function.
The scene being shot was a fight between Superman, Batman, and Mongul.
The first take had Henry charging forward, only for Mongul to catch him mid-attack and slam him into the ground. Jensen came in from the side, using a scavenged blade. Claes barely moved at first, then turned and backhanded him across the stage.
Jensen flew into a padded crash area.
George watched the monitor like a hawk.
"Again," he said immediately.
And they did it again.
And again.
Each time, small things changed.
It was exhausting just watching.
By the second break, Henry walked over and sat next to me, taking a bottle of water from an assistant. We got to chatting, and then he asked.
"By the way, why did you ask me if I ever played GTA Online?"
"Oh, yeah," I said. "I'm going to be in it."
Henry blinked.
"What?"
"I mean, technically, a GTA-fied version of me is going to be in it."
"Rockstar came to me at the beginning of the year with an idea," I said. "I liked it. Now I'm going to be one of the main characters in their big DLC next year."
"What's it going to be about?"
I smiled.
"Well..."
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Daniel does some mocap in the next chapter.
Also, here's a scene from a couple of chapters later
You can read up to chapter 327 here.
p.a.t.r.eon.com/Illusiveone (check the chapter summary i have it there as well)