John Wick 3-Parabellum, Review: Wicktory is yours

Break neck, break arm, break leg, and break everything action, in all forms of martial, some pre-martial and some post partial arts, glass and furniture, horses galloping, cars and bikes strewn all over the place, one unstoppable man-machine that’s a treat for action lovers, whether Wicked fans or non-wicked. A good example of the benefits reaped by turning to the creator-writer, (co) director and star who put together the first and second instalment, John Wick-3: Parabellum is gory mayhem, from cerebrum to cerebellum, from infundibulum to diverticulum.

Having been declared ex-communicado by the High Table, John Wick cannot remain in-communicado, for there is a $14 million contract bounty on his head. This is punishment for High Table member Santino D'Antonio on (Hotel) Continental grounds, a consecrated haven for all High Table members. As grace, he has been given one hour by New York Continental manager Winston, to prepare for his death.

Wick travels to the New York Public Library and retrieves two items: a "marker" (medallion) and a crucifix necklace, before being ambushed by a fellow assassin, Ernest. Wick kills him with a book and leaves but is pursued by a gang into a warehouse, where he neutralises them in a brutal fight. Meanwhile, The Adjudicator, a head-shaven woman who is a representative of The High Table, visits both Winston, in The Continental, and The Bowery King, in his hideout, to let them know that they will be punished for helping Wick. Both are ordered to relinquish their positions of authority within seven days, or face consequences.

Wick visits the Director, a ballet teacher in Europe, a figure from his past who also happens to be a member of the High Table. He hands over the crucifix necklace to her, thereby earning for himself safe passage to Casablanca. There, Wick visits a local branch of The Continental, and meets with Sofia--a woman from his past, who owes him a favour. As soon as he enters her room, she shoots at him but only causes an injury. Wick hands Sofia the ‘marker’ he retrieved from the library--the medallion which symbolises an unbreakable promise by one person to fulfill a task requested by another. Wick requests that Sofia should honour the marker by helping him locate The Elder, a senior member of The High Table, from whom he will seek a pardon. Sofia reluctantly agrees and takes Wick to a ruthless local man named Berrada.

Berrada provides Wick with The Elder's location, within the desert, but he asks for payment for his favour, in the form of one of Sofia's dogs, which he has suddenly become fond of. When she refuses, he shoots it. In retaliation, Sofia shoots Berrada. With the help of her two trained dogs, Sofia and John fight their way out of the area before travelling to the desert. Having fulfilled her ‘marker’, Sofia leaves. John continues walking in the desert alone, before collapsing due to exhaustion. John is found by a passing traveller and taken to The Elder, an Arab (!) who gives John the choice between dying, or accepting a mission to kill Winston, on behalf of The High Table, in exchange for the removal of the bounty on his head. John accepts the mission and as a show of commitment to The High Table, severs his ring finger and gives his wedding ring to The Elder.

Before John Wick, Derek Kolstad had worked on only two screenplays, both Dolph Lundgren films. His third was called Scorn, and was bought in 2013. Keanu Reeves was signed in the lead role, and it was Keanu who suggested that the name of the film be changed to John Wick, which was the name of Kolstad’s grandfather. How and why did the two end up talking about Kolstad’s grandfather remains unknown.

In 2014, Kolstad told a magazine, “Even though I write a ton, I had never written a pure revenge flick. And who doesn’t love a good one? Alistair MacLean and Stephen King were huge influences on me growing up. MacLean could build a world, and King could surprise you by what the main character truly was capable of.” Kolstad has a peculiar habit, “I always write with a dead actor in mind. I grew up with B&W flicks, and idolised actors who, as a child, were already beyond their prime. I wrote John Wick with Paul Newman in my head.”

Ancient and mythological customs like blood-stained markers serving as debts that had to be repaid at all costs, fingers chopped off to prove loyalty, no killing on ‘consecrated’ properties, using pigeons and ravens as couriers, seeking the Elder in a remote desert after walking miles on foot, and more, co-habit with the 2018 world, where an international organisation of assassins runs like a corporation, with a fleet of telephone operators and a chain of Continental Hotels, a stockpile of latest weapons and vehicles, a High Table and, no pun, under the Table.

Mentioning that nothing can stop John Wick would be stating the obvious. And he is indispensable too. They had used his wife to bring him out of retirement and now get to his dog to send home a blood-curdling message. Dog? No ordinary dog, this one. It is a pit bull and really close to John Wick. As was Beagle (Chapter 1). And there are two other dogs too: Sofia’s soldiery Malinois, one of who, in one shot, uses Halle Berry’s back as a springboard, then scrambles up the wall to the second storey, and attacks a gunman on a balcony. You have Rob Nederhorst, the film’s visual effects supervisor’s word, declaring that the dog really did climb that wall. He further confirms that the horses used in the film are real, not CGI, and so are their stunts, like back-kicking the baddies, twice. In the words of writer Derek Kolstad, “As for the dog, I found myself asking the random question of myself: “what would you do if someone did something to Loki or Isis (my two mutts)?” And the answer? Terrible, terrible things.”

Over three films, we have had four dogs already. Is John Wick fast becoming a poochie-woochie, bowie-wowie franchise, what with director Chad Stahelski (who made his directorial debut with John Wick and served as Reeves' Matrix stunt double) owner of two dogs himself?  To underscore the point, there are quite a few dogs barking in the auditorium next door, where A Dog’s Journey, release on the same day in Mumbai, is running. Yes, the opposition will pay a price for laying their hands on the pit-bull, a price that they couldn’t have imagined. Hey! You are forgetting the horses, used in classic Western cowboy style. So, neigh, this is not an all-bone contention at all.

Keanu Reeves is 54? Nah! But he is! The Beirut-born Canadian actor has done an incredible 90 films till May 2019. He once drove 1,000 miles on his own motorcycle to deliver a script to a fellow actor and his best friend. So you now know why he is able to handle motorcycles almost like toys, and do all those stunts in Parabellum (I am sure the more risky ones were done by doubles or by VFX. Hockey is another passion, and guess what was he called? Cricketer Rahul Dravid fans know the answer already. Reeves is able to convey tremendous tenacity as well as the ability to bear extreme pain with a poker face. Looks in good health, with an on-screen age that can range from 35 to 50, largely due to the hair-locks that frame the sides of his face. So he has a good 10-15 years to put in before he hangs up his boots as Wick.

Ian McShane as Winston has the requisite physical presence, even at 76. His accent sometimes wavers and shifts to native Scottish, before he is back to the Brit. Mark Dacascos as Zero, the main assassin recruited by the Adjudicator, is a sushi seller during peace-time. His encounters with Wick keep moving successively towards the iconic Enter the Dragon scenes in the Hall of Mirrors. They get as glassy and as close as possible, without attracting flak for plagiarism. Keeping him bald, with an oriental face, does not let us see many of his expressions, but he is superbly confident. Perhaps the prototype was Dr. No, James Bond’s first foe. Laurence Fishburne as the Bowery King, an underground crime lord, spouts grandiloquence to little effect, as his hands are sliced through, being part of the punishment. Never mind, his time will come, says the last scene of the film.

Asia Kate Dillon as the Adjudicator of the High Table is one more bald player, who goes about her job like a thorough professional, not too different from Omar Sharif in The Night of the Generals. Logic dictates that in any fight involving women, having hair on the head, especially long hair, could be a distinct disadvantage. Halle Berry as Sofia is slick and business-like, belying her 52 years. Lance Reddick as Charon, the concierge at the Continental Hotel in New York, is an odd character, quite unnecessary in 2018. Don’t get fooled by his receptionist role, though.

Anjelica Huston as the Director, a member of the Ruska Roma and protector of John Wick, has aged beyond her 67 years, though she fits her role rather well. In terms of writing, she, like many others who helped John, are portrayed as naïve, incapable of uniting and preparing themselves to face the wrath of the High Table. Saïd Taghmaoui (French-American of Moroccan descent) as the Arab Elder, a member of the High Table, puts in a neat little cameo. Yayan Ruhian as Shinobi No.1, Zero's pupil and Cecep Arif Rahman as Shinobi No.2, Zero's pupil, are Indonesian/Malay fighters, who, like Zero, are in awe of John Wick. In fact, at one stage, they manage to ….

According to Reeves, the film's title was taken from the famous 4th-century Roman military quote "Si vis pacem, para bellum," which means, "If you want peace, prepare for war.” I am reminded of a MAD Magazine quote, “Let’s all fight for peace.” Either way, if you are getting into any fight of any kind against anybody or any organisation anywhere in the world with any weapons or without any weapons, make sure John Wick is on your side. Now RIP (rest in peace), for Wicktory is yours. Can’t you see those beams from the racing motorbike headlights glowing and lighting your path, like lamps of lore and yore, from an extreme top angle shot? Dan Laustsen is in great form on the camera, Method Studios, Image Engine and Soho VFX deserve kudos for creating realistic effects. Tylor Bates and Joel J. Richard provide adrenaline strumming music and editor Evan Schiff never lets you look at your watch during all of 131 minutes? We could have easily sat for another 9-10 minutes.

John Wick-3: Parabellum, on my scorecard, you are hovering around Avengers: End Game, if we jump genres and compare superheroes to an action hero. Parabellum cost $40 mn to make, while the Gamers had to spend $356 mn. End Game is still playing, Parabellum has just taken the field. Both are on top of their games. Both are running parallel.

Rating: *** ½

Trailer: https://www.facebook.com/johnwickmovie/videos/2392945784051961/