John Wick: Parabellum (2019) Review

John Wick: Parabellum (2019)

Directed By: Chad Stahelski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Anjelica Huston, and Ian McShane.

Synopsis: After gunning down a member of the High Table — the shadowy international assassin’s guild — legendary hit man John Wick finds himself stripped of the organization’s protective services. Now stuck with a $14 million bounty on his head, Wick must fight his way through the streets of New York as he becomes the target of the world’s most ruthless killers.

Review: John Wick: Parabellum explodes onto our screens picking up where Chapter Two left off, with his one hour of grace – granted to him by long time friend Winston – nearly up and legions of assassins just waiting to pounce, John knows he has to use every resource he has left to escape New York City. In the first twenty minutes John Wick racks up a deadly body count! We get an amazing fight where John kills someone with a book which is brutal, then we are treated to a brawl which has Wick literally throwing knives and axes in order to eliminate the eight heavily armed assassins on his tail. This is then followed by a horse chase through New York City which is a highlight!

Another highlight of the movie was Halle Berry’s character Sofia who was a previous friend of John’s. She is no damsel and is on par with skill set in comparison to John. Even though Halle’s character isn’t in a huge portion of the film, her and John’s fight against an army of goons is memorable and one that will make many wince, especially at the carnage her trained assassin dogs inflict on the enemy.

On main villian duty we have the truly awesome martial arts legend Mark Dacascos, sporting a bald head. Mark plays Zero, an assassin with a skill set that matches. Zero and his ‘students’ as he calls them are a group of ninja like stealth killers, lethal with their fists and even deadlier with their blades. The final fight between Wick and two of the students and then against Zero are truly breathtaking and see Wick getting his ass put down quite a lot and suffering some damage.

The movie never slows pace or gets bogged down with over crowding of filler we don’t need, and every action scene is choreographed to perfection and plays out like a beautifully brutal ballet. The effort Keanu and the team put into making these movies is truly unreal and it all pays off on screen.

John Wick: Parabellum is definitely the action movie of the year, hosting what I could see as the highest body count and most inventive kills along with the best fight choreography I have seen in a long time!! A truly amazing movie and a must see for EVERYONE!!!