John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum

Part of me wants to pretend that I couldn't find the paper thin plot of the film and rag on it for a complete and total lack of story... but I could follow what little of a plot there was so that would be kind of disingenuous. Not only that, but it would also be pretending that I didn't know what kind of movie this was when I sat down with my wife to watch it. And, honestly, I can't stand the reviews that take a John Wick film and pretend that they expected something like Chinatown walking in. You know the ones I'm talking about, those reviews that lament the fact that they got a brainless action movie when they sat down to watch a brainless action movie. If I said "I'm not that deep" I'd be giving them too much credit. So rather than saying that, I'm going to say that, when I sat down to watch it, I didn't lie to myself and pretend it was going to be anything more than a John Wick film. What you have is sleek, beautifully choreographed action brought to you in the most brutal of ways and delivered in a form that requires you to suspend your disbelief because it is just the right amount of totally unrealistic. Does it have a plot? Yeah, but not really. It has just enough of a plot to make a loose story and not so much that it would get in the way of what was promised to be carnage candy. And, honestly, carnage candy is the promise that the John Wick people gave us and nothing more... and each installment of the franchise delivers on that promise. It never, ever, claims that it is anything more than an action film, and it never, ever pretends to be anything deeper. It isn't a great film. It never claims to be. But it is a great action film, so you have to take it for what it is.