About a quarter of an hour into John Wick 3 there's a knife fight in a Chinatown shop that's quite possibly the most gleefully violent thing you'll see in the cinema this year. It is bonkers. You'll laugh, you'll squirm and you'll cringe at a moment of ocular trauma that would have put this film on the infamous video nasties list had it been released in the 80's. In a couple of minutes the movie sets out it's stall in blistering fashion. It's bigger and badder than what's come before. But is it better?
John Wick is on the run. He's broken the rules of the assassin organisation that he's a member of, The High Table, by murdering another member on sacrosanct ground and now he's been declared excommunicado. They want him gone and have placed a $14 million dollar bounty on his head. Every assassin in New York City is gunning for him and now John has nowhere to go but back to where it all started.
This was 130 minutes of chaotic madness and I loved it. It's the most beautiful looking action film you'll see this year. Sand dunes as far as the eye can see. A New York City that somehow looks glorious in all it's neon awfulness. Dark Casablanca alley ways and glass rooms filled to the bring with shiny detail. It's all stylish as hell and it's so far up it's own arse that it can see out of it's own gob but it all adds to the delight. And yes, the action is amazing. Clearly shot, lovingly choreographed, insanely crunchy. Honestly, there's things going on here I've never seen on screen before. Necks are shattered with library books. Samurai's on motorbikes are taken on in one shot takes. Dogs are used as weapons of mass destruction. The bad guys from The Raid 1 and 2 show up in a fight scene that will have you laughing as much as you're covering you're eyes. It's a feast for the eyes and thankfully there's a bit of substance behind it all too.
We care about John Wick. He's a character you can empathise with because his actions come from grieving. For his wife, for his dog, for his goddamn car. All the things that made him who he is ripped from him. His story is enlarged and contracted too. We find out where he came from and just how big the organisation he's involved with his. We find out it's why's and where's and when's. Each successive film has pulled back the curtain on The High Table a bit and every reveal adds to the absurdity. Yes, it's all absolutely absurd and that's part of the joy. These aren't films that you take seriously, they're well made fun. People are murdered in the middle of Grand Central station and no one bats an eyelid. It all adds a mystical edge to this league of assassins and that combined with the elaborate and dangerous universe wrapped around it all elevates it way above your usual action fare.
Reeves sells the hell out of the lead role once again. I'll be amazed if he says more than 200 words throughout the movie but his presence alone carries it along during the rare quieter stretches. There's no denying his action chops either. Shot in lovely long takes it's clear to see that it's Keanu doing his own fighting and stunts. Seeing him smack dab in the middle of the action gives it an edge. You really feel the danger and it makes him seem like a realistic opponent against the likes of real life martial artists like Tiger Chen and Yayan Ruhian. Mark Dacascos turns up as Zero, the story's big bad. He's best known for films like Crying Freeman and Brotherhood of the Wolf and it's great to see him back in a big budget production. He adds a muscular heft to proceedings and gives the film it's biggest laugh too in a couch set fanboy moment.
The film's only real weakness is a flabby sojourn in North Africa that doesn't really come to much but even then it's here that we meet Halle Berry's character, Sofia, an ex assassin and friend of John's. Her part is very much a placeholder for further franchise installments (there is deffo going to be more sequels, bring em on) but she has a ball in the part and gets to kick off one of the more inventive gunfights you'll ever see. I hope when she comes back she brings her dogs too. They play a great part. As does the horse that John turns into a weapon in the earlier part of the film. Yes, you read that right.
Go see this. Seeing the first 2 films will increase your enjoyment but even if you haven't you'll have a whale of a time. It's so much fun. Slicing, dicing, head exploding fun. Director Chad Stahelski, returning for a third time has created a slice of ultraviolent joy. This is the franchise others should be looking at in envy.
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