John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

I just saw John Wick 3: Parabellum and it was amazing!! So good, I've decided to give a second film review today.

Continuing right where the previous film left off, John Wick is running for his life, as the underground assassin world has declared him "excommunicado." With nowhere to go and no one to help him, he must find a way to survive the $14 million bounty on his head, even if it means taking on every assassin across the world!

As usual, the choreography of the fight scenes is incredible and creative. I'd bet that over 70% of the film is just watching action fight scenes, but it's so captivating, you forget that there's an underlying plot going on.

I will say, they definitely go a bit more gory in this one. Unlike the previous films, where people get stabbed or shot and you might see a blood spatter, this film goes for the gross-out effect, with close-ups of people being slowly stabbed in the eye, fingers being sliced off, and brains being splattered, all in gruesome detail. It's not frequent; they space out the gore enough so you're not constantly cringing, and it's quick enough, you can close your eyes for a moment to skip it. But I will say that my entire theater cried out at the first ultra-violent scene. Definitely caught us off-guard.

The subtitle in the movie's name has a pretty cool double-meaning. Parabellum is the name of a particular machine gun, as well as a pistol, developed in Germany. There are also two different handgun cartridges named Parabellum. So the title is well-suited to the ongoing theme of the film.

But parabellum is also a latin phrase, meaning "prepare for war." And as this title suggests, this franchise isn't over yet. No spoilers, but this fantastic movie is just a taste of the battles to come for John Wick. I'm so excited to see more!

If you like action movies but are bored with the actual fight scenes, you need to check out the John Wick series. So much time and care is put into the fights. It's not just watching people punch or shoot each other until one of them dies. There's no shaky-cam scenes where you're struggling to follow the action. There's a beautiful flow to the fights, and you get to sit back and truly enjoy the creative ways in which John Wick attempts to overcome each attacker. If you haven't seen this franchise yet, should definitely check it out!