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Keanu Reeves as John Wick is back – uglier and unshaven as ever. In trouble as ever. And the film is bloodier and violent as ever – it obeying the rules (not like Wick in the Continental hotel) of being bigger and louder a sequel than the original. But not necessarily for the better. The film proves that there can be too much of a good thing – arguably if one wants to count action set pieces as a good thing.
The word Parabellum in the film title mens ‘prepare for war’ though it is arguable that all the assassins in the world vs. John Wick can be defined as one .
Chad Stahelski who also directed the original returns to the director’s chair in the third instalment of the franchise offering more action and violence as the first two John Wick films. The film is all action based on a loose story line that surprisingly took four screenwriters, Derek Kolstad, Shay Hatten, Chris Collins, and Marc Abram to pen.
The most interesting aspect of the first JOHN WICK1984 film is the Continental Hotel. As every John Wick fan knows, no one can do away with anyone there – as it a place of solace and amnesty that every criminal or cop has to adhere to. John Wick broke the rule. As a result he finds himself on the run for a host of assassins all out to kill Wick to earn the huge bounty of $14 million put on his head. Being declared as excommunicado after killing D’Antonio on Continental grounds, the chances of survival have never been thinner for Wick. With the aid of old allies, John seeks to turn the tide.
A subplot involves the head and owner of the Continental, Winston (Ian McShane) forced to step down but refuses who also helps Wick by giving him blood markers, whatever that means.
The film was shot in exotic locations like Morocco, Montreal and New York City. The soundtrack by Tyler Bates who is good for putting lots o signs together in a soundtrack is a winner.
Besides Reeves, other actors in the franchise like Halle Berry as Sofia another assassin but close friend, Laurence Fishburne and Lance Reddick as Charron the continental concierge reprise their roles.
The film is excessively violent. There nastiest of these is a blade stabbed right into a victim’s eye during fight. Other stabbings to the head and other body parts happen frequently.
The action flick runs two hours. After a quarter through the film, one realizes that the film is nothing more than actions set pieces that eventually get really boring and repetitive. Wick fights his assassins using Martial Arts, knives, motorbikes, guns, hand-to-hand and cars. All the fight options are too exhausted. So is the audience’s attention span. Chapter 3 is clearly the worst of the John Wick franchise.
JOHN WICK 3, as the film is alternatively called hopes to derail AVENGERS ENDGAME from the number 1 box-office this weekend.
Trailer: ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBB1whi46QE
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The first thing striking this film is that it is a French-Belgium co-production with a setting of racial tension following the 1992 riots in Los Angeles of the United States. The riots are the result of the acquittal of the 4 policeman accused of the beating of black youth Rodney King. Director Deniz Gamze Ergüven is a Turkish born French. A foreigner tackling a sensitive American issue spells trouble. True enough! The film has, at the time of writing, a 0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 8 reviews. The film contains too many instances of sensationalization and desperation with the overall feel that director Ergüven seems insecure and has too much to prove with her story.
But she is already an accomplished director with her debut film, MUSTANG nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award. This is quite the achievement, that allowed her the financial backing to make this film. Not ono that, bit she is able to cast two stars Halle Berry and Daniel Craig in the title roles. It is also her original script which is made even more current with a romance between a mixed couple.
The film’s opening scene is already troublesome. A young black woman puts a jug of orange juice at an Asian Convenience Store into her coat only to be suspected for theft by the store owner who ends up shooting the black woman after being punched in the face by her. Though this is a true incident that occurred, it downplays the Rodney King incident. Another troublesome part involves black kids shoplifting and then celebrating their spoils, which basically translates to a film that condones stealing. There is one good segment in which a cop has to handle one suspect in a car and two youths who has entered his cop car. “God, I hate this job!” the cop screams. This is a good view from the side of the cops, for a change, illustrating that they too, have problems when dealing with crime in a black neighbourhood.
The film is largely spoiled by Halle Berry in what must be the worst casting of an actress in a role not to mention her bad acting. She overdoes her angelic Mother Teresa role of taking troubled kids into her home. Her perfect ‘model’ look and perfect hair do not help the credibility of her role either. The next worst thing is the casting of James Bond Daniel Craig as the reclusive neighbour next time. And horror or horrors! The two have a romantic interlude.
The females in the film often scream and shout, appearing like spoilt children getting into a fit for not being bale to get what they want. They also resort to foul language that is so unbecoming of a lady. All this seems ok and fine since the director has a thing about women issues. Yet, the audience is supposed to respect such behaviour.
The result is an overdone, over preachy film that gets tedious and terribly annoying.
Halle Berry
Born: August 14, 1966 in Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Married to:
Olivier Martinez (13 July 2013 – 28 October 2015) (divorced) (1 child)
Eric Benét (24 January 2001 – 3 January 2005) (divorced)
David Justice (1 January 1993 – 24 June 1997) (divorced)
 Monster’s Ball2001 dir. Marc Forster starring Billy Bob Thornton Berry |
 X-Men2000 dir. Singer starring Hugh Jackman Patrick Stewart |
 Swordfish2001 dir. Dominic Sena Starring John Travolta Berry Hugh Jackman |
 Die Another Day2002 dir. Lee Tamahori Starring Pierce Brosnan Halle Berry |
 X-Men 22003 dir. Singer starring Famke Jenson Berry |
 X-Men 32006 dir. by Brett Ratner starring Ian McKellen Anna Paquin |
 Perfect Stranger2007 dir. James Foley Starring Bruce Willis Berry |
 NEW YEAR’S EVE dir. Garry Marshall Stars: Sarah Jessica Parker Jessica Biel |
 MOVIE 432013 Stars: Emma Stone Stephen Merchant Richard Gere Liev Schreiber |
 CLOUD ATLAS 2012 dir. Tom Tykwer Andy Wachowski Lana Wachowski |
 THE CALL2013 dir. Brad Anderson Stars: Abigail Breslin Halle Berry |
 X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST2014 dir. Bryan Singer Patrick Stewart Ian McKellen |
TOP HALLE BERRY PHOTOSSEE – WITHOUT MAKEUP PHOTO
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