I was looking forward to this. Keanu Reeves is great, and I've a good time with the previous John Wick movies (not so much the 3rd one, but still OK), so what's there not to like, right?
Wrong. Unfortunately. I don't want to go into the potholes, because this is not a documentary or a drama, so let me cut it some slack there right away. However, even with that headstart, things are going downhill quickly.
This is the first time when I have seen John Wick tired, weak or worn. Some of the action scenes look really silly because there is no perceivable force or momentum in John's moves. I'm sure Keanu is in excellent phisical shape, so I don't get it: sometimes it really looks like a grandpa is trying to beat up a bunch of street-kids.
Then the so-much cited world-building...oh well, we needed that as much as a mole needs sunglasses, but still: where did it derail so badly? I mean this is supposed to be a secret society, operating behind the scenes, barely leaving a trace, right? Then how come that armies (literally, small armies, plural) of assassins and henchmen are just swarming in world-famous locations, time after time? How come that there is apparently a "Continental" in every major city? That there is always yet another rule, which can be used to move the "plot" (man that was difficult to label it such) forward? If you bend the rules (your rules, btw) so many times, why would anyone invest into the characters? If they get in a pickle with seemingly no way out, we just invent another rule (or exception, or amendment, or whatever), and the job's done. It really turns any dramatic potential (not that there are many to start with) into a proper snoozefest.
OK, so not much substance or plot, Mr Wick is not who he once was, and the world building sucks....but the action scenes are still great, right? Well, kind of. Clearly not my taste, but it is evident that a lot of effort went into creating them, so I can perfectly understand if some of the viewers find them enjoyable. For me, they just went waaay to far. There are so many opponents executed (hundreds, literally), that there is no weight to it. No matter what, the bad guys drop, and John Wick walks away...gets boring after the first 150 killings or so. The complete lack of realism doesn't help, and neither does the fact that they overwrite their own set of rules in an instant if and when they deem fit (example: you can't penetrate the magic armor by bullets, but apparently you can cut and stab through it....come on now, decide already).
With all that being said, the movie does have its moments...few and far in between, yes, but still, sometimes it just does. That however doesn't justify the 3 hours I feel I have wasted watching it: I would have needed a lot more meat on the bone, some better characters, at least a bit of a reasonable plot, and some consistency at least against its own set of rules. To sum it all up, this defintiely feels like the low point of the series, and I honestly don't understand how this, in its current form, got the green light.
Wrong. Unfortunately. I don't want to go into the potholes, because this is not a documentary or a drama, so let me cut it some slack there right away. However, even with that headstart, things are going downhill quickly.
This is the first time when I have seen John Wick tired, weak or worn. Some of the action scenes look really silly because there is no perceivable force or momentum in John's moves. I'm sure Keanu is in excellent phisical shape, so I don't get it: sometimes it really looks like a grandpa is trying to beat up a bunch of street-kids.
Then the so-much cited world-building...oh well, we needed that as much as a mole needs sunglasses, but still: where did it derail so badly? I mean this is supposed to be a secret society, operating behind the scenes, barely leaving a trace, right? Then how come that armies (literally, small armies, plural) of assassins and henchmen are just swarming in world-famous locations, time after time? How come that there is apparently a "Continental" in every major city? That there is always yet another rule, which can be used to move the "plot" (man that was difficult to label it such) forward? If you bend the rules (your rules, btw) so many times, why would anyone invest into the characters? If they get in a pickle with seemingly no way out, we just invent another rule (or exception, or amendment, or whatever), and the job's done. It really turns any dramatic potential (not that there are many to start with) into a proper snoozefest.
OK, so not much substance or plot, Mr Wick is not who he once was, and the world building sucks....but the action scenes are still great, right? Well, kind of. Clearly not my taste, but it is evident that a lot of effort went into creating them, so I can perfectly understand if some of the viewers find them enjoyable. For me, they just went waaay to far. There are so many opponents executed (hundreds, literally), that there is no weight to it. No matter what, the bad guys drop, and John Wick walks away...gets boring after the first 150 killings or so. The complete lack of realism doesn't help, and neither does the fact that they overwrite their own set of rules in an instant if and when they deem fit (example: you can't penetrate the magic armor by bullets, but apparently you can cut and stab through it....come on now, decide already).
With all that being said, the movie does have its moments...few and far in between, yes, but still, sometimes it just does. That however doesn't justify the 3 hours I feel I have wasted watching it: I would have needed a lot more meat on the bone, some better characters, at least a bit of a reasonable plot, and some consistency at least against its own set of rules. To sum it all up, this defintiely feels like the low point of the series, and I honestly don't understand how this, in its current form, got the green light.