Action and Adventure films - 2019
| John Wick: Chapter 3 |
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John Wick: Chapter Three, again directed by Chad Stahelski and starring Keanu Reeves, continues the John Wick story from where the previous films left off. It's interesting to note that this action franchise, which began in 2014 and has a fourth film planned for release in 2021 occurs in no more than a few weeks in the title character's life.
The story: After being excommunicated from the protections of the Continental and the High Table for executing an adversary on neutral ground, John goes on the run. An enormous bounty is placed on his head and he evades countless assassins and High Table enforcers throughout the film. Eventually, with the help of an old friend, Sofia (Halle Berry), he is able to make a deal with the High Table, but at the price of murdering his friend Winston (Ian McShane). John is forced to choose a side in an internal war amongst the world of international assassins.
I had been looking forward to this film and it paid off in the ways I hoped it would. The action is a fast-paced ballet of carnage with guns, swords, motorcycles, horses, and dogs. The ante on the mayhem keeps getting raised from chapter to chapter. I can't think of any other film franchise - Bond and Bourne included - that does action like this one. Seeing Halle Berry step into this world and deal death and destruction as well was a special treat.
That being said, the emotional content that underlied the first film is starting to fade. Wick's wife doesn't appear even in flashback and even though the story hasn't moved so far chronologically from her loss, the years between films has created a distance that penetrates the story. The reveals of aspects of John's past and the inner workings of the High Table are somewhat interesting, but they don't do anything to make the audience care more or less about the characters.
Reeves' likability and Stahelski's action scenes may keep this series running for a while longer, but I hope they give us a reason to stay invested in the character. Wick almost seems happy to have returned to his violent life. I would be interested in seeing him recall how Helen took him from it. Could he leave it again? Perhaps we will see in Chapter Four.
- JC