Rated: MA15+
Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Screenplay by: Derek Kolstad and Shay Hatten and Chris Collins & Marc Abrams
Story by: Derek Kolstad
Based on: Characters Created by Derek Kolstad
Produced by: Basil Iwanyk, p.g.a., Erica Lee, p.g.a.
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Halle Berry, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Lance Reddick, Saïd Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Jason Mantzoukas, Tobias Segal, Borban Marjanovic, with Anjelica Huston and Ian McShane.
Time is a running theme in this third instalment of John Wick, building the pressure after Winston (Ian McShane), Manager of The Continental, New York makes John excommunicado (re-cap: The Continental being a hotel that’s a safe haven for assassins seeking sanctuary under the rule of the powerful organisation and international assassin’s guild, The High Table).
John has broken the one rule that cannot be broken: killing another assassin under the protection of The Continental.
Winston has given John one hour before the end of his protection leaving him exposed to an open contract sent to every assassin in the world; the bounty: 14 million dollars.
This is the consequence of John’s revenge.
All he wanted was peace. But for John to find peace, first he must make war.
I found myself immensely satisfied in the continuity of seeing John Wick in action, 10 minutes after the hanging end of John Wick 2.
The bones of the series continues here, with the same operators taking the same calls for the same organisation. But take that continuing thread and pull tighter.
The action here is phenomenal – I’d go as far as saying more entertaining and fiercer than the two before. I’m talking knives, hatchets and ninja moves.
Like the familiar Continental concierge, Cheron (Lance Reddick) says, ‘This is serious business’
It’s like watching the fight scenes live, Keanu going into four months of intensive training before shooting so he could fight the scenes himself. And he outdoes himself, again and again while retaining that incredibly likeable dry sense of humour.
Just when I felt myself start to loose focus, John Wick starts slapping a guy, another assassin appears out of the shadows, the dogs start attacking. And it’s all played-out in settings of old world charm filled with red velvet and ballerinas to the vibrant burnt orange sands of Morocco to the steaming streets of New York and artefacts set in glass creating a maze so the slash of samurai or the jab of a dagger splinters the glass or John just gets thrown through it.
Aside from the returning favourite characters (can’t forget Laurence Fishburne as reigning Bowery King) there’s new characters to build another dimension and give context to the man, John Wick: The Director (Anjelica Huston) who runs a school for assassins, hinting at John’s Romani past and Sofia (Halle Berry) from John’s origins, a fellow assassin (and the best role I’ve seen Halle Berry in years).
I’m such a fan of Asia Kate Dillon in the TV series, Billions, I was chuffed to see her cast here as The Adjudicator played with cold calculation as she deals out The High Table’s demands with predatory eyes.
So the action is ramped-up with gritty realism, and we get an expansion of the John Wick universe.
Look, some of the story gets a bit thin in places, but it’s so entertaining and the character John Wick is so likeable I was happy to let some of the dubious motivations slide.
I’m still reeling from those fight scenes that somehow managed to tap into that fight response fueling the experience with adrenaline. It’s just relentless, the hit after hit, I could feel the force as I laughed and cringed and grinned through all the blood and violence because it’s so hardcore it’s funny. On purpose.
Instant action-thriller classic.
