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John Wick - Chapter 3: Parabellum

7/10

Stars: Keanu Reeves, Ian McShane, Lance Reddick, Laurence Fishburne, Mark Dacascos, Asia Kate Dillon, Halle Berry, Said Taghmaoui, Jerome Flynn, Anjelica Huston

Director: Chad Stahelski

With the previous two John Wick action thrillers claiming a fortune at the box office, it was inevitable that Hollywood tradition - profit before art - should insist on a third outing for Reeves' popular grim-faced hitman.

And so, 'legendary hitman' John Wick returns to deliver some two hours of slam-bang slicing, dicing, shooting, running and assorted mayhem when, after fighting his way out of New York because of the $14 million dollar contract for his extinction ('The High Table wants you') makes him a major attraction for every leading assassin, man and woman alike, in the world.

Ignore narrative logic - which is essentially what the screenwriters do - and simply settle for a constant cornucopia of action and thrills as Reeves (rarely changing his customary 'man battling with constant constipation' expression) shoots, punches, slashes and swipes his sword to stay alive in order to be ready for the (inevitable, surely?) John Wick Chapter 4.


Alan Frank

USA 2019. UK Distributor: LionsGate. Colour (unspecified).
125 minutes. Widescreen. UK certificate: 15.

Guidance ratings (out of 3): Sex/nudity 1, Violence/Horror 3, Drugs 2, Swearing 3.

Review date: 13 Sep 2019

DVD review