Thrills, chills and kills!
BQB here with a review of the latest John Wick installment.
How do I review a movie that seems more like a thrill ride than a film?
The first John Wick was a breakout success because it was so dang original. A seemingly mild mannered man’s wife dies and the death of the pooch she left behind drives him so mad that he comes out of retirement as an assassin and returns down the rabbit hole of an underground secret, global society of hitmen that operate underneath our noses?
Sign me up.
But with each installment, the franchise became less about the story and more about the fight scenes. The sequels are, by and large, just very long, well choreographed fight scenes. There’s always some premise about how Wick has cheesed off the hitmen society so all the hitmen want to kill him because of the high price on his hitman head.
From a writing standpoint, it’s novel. Superfluous backstory is unnecessary because Wick’s reputation precedes himself, so new characters can always be introduced as either an old comrade or an old villain. In this film, both are played by Donnie Yen, a blind man forced to fight his old friend to save his daughter. Donnie Yen has done the blind fighter routine before in Star Wars: Rogue One, but he does it well again here. Sidenote: If you haven’t seen him in the Ip Man flicks, Netflix them ASAP. If movies with subtitles aren’t your bag, at least YouTube the scene where Donnie fights Mike Tyson.
Overall, the movie satisfies the desire for fight scenes and mayhem. The story kind of got lost after the first film and its really just about the fights at this point.
STATUS: Shelf-worthy.
Bookshelf Battle 
That may be the honest review for all action movies, honestly.
The only plot I remember is John Wick 1 where his wife died, left him a dog, and the spoiled son of Russian mobsters killed his dog and stole his classic car and Wick goes from mild mannered widower out of retirement to expert hitman. The next few movies were fun to watch but ultimately forgettable.
Ha ha. Sounds plausible.
I loved the fight scenes, the stunts, the weapons, the villains, the allies, and the dogs. Everything was perfect.
I did too but like the other sequels, I’m not sure I’ll remember it other than the broad points a year from now. The first one had the best story.