Contains Spoilers!
I've had a chance to see John Wick: Chapter 3 twice since it came out in theaters. I went opening night with one friend and another friend the following Saturday. While the original John Wick is still my favorite, Chapter 3 did some cool things.
We pick up right where Chapter 2 left off, with only an hour remaining before John (Keanu Reeves) is "excommunicato," at which point he will have a $14 million bounty on his head and be unable to use any High Table sanctioned resources. He races to the New York Public Library (after sending his pit bull to the hotel manager at the Continental) to retrieve some valuables he'd stashed there. After killing an over-eager assasin (Philadelphia 76ers center, Boban Marjanovic), he flees to a trusted doctor to stitch up a knife wound before his hour runs out.
The juxtaposition between beauty and violence takes center stage (pun intended) in this movie. The Belarusian ballet foreshadowed the guns and swords in several fight scenes. This is most noticeable when Winston (Ian McShane) turned on the classical music and had the hotel manager (Lance Reddick, whose character's name was apparently Charon) flip the "mood lighting" in the hotel when two bus loads of High Table assassins descend upon The Continental. As they enter the hotel in time with the music, they give the impression of lethal dancers entering a stage on cue.
Speaking of fighting, there sure was a lot of it! That would be my main...complaint is too strong a word...issue, maybe...with the movie. Most of the fight scenes were way too long. It would have been very easy to trim 12-15 minutes of fighting without taking away from the grandiose and innovative violence. The only "good part" was it increased my appreciation for Keanu Reeves' stamina. The man isn't a kid anymore (he's 54!), which makes a couple of those fight scenes very impressive.
Overall the level of violence was a bit gratuitous, even for a John Wick movie. The first big fight scene in the antique dealer's storage room was the most explicit ("You're not really going to stab him in the eye are you? Oh...ooh...guess you are. Ok then."), with it tapering off in graphic-ness from there.
One of my favorite creative effects was near the end of the movie when John was fighting some of Zero's (Mark Dacascos) minions. They're fighting him with swords and in a couple shots, the camera is on the far side of a glass wall when they swing at John. They miss and damage the glass, scraping a line along it. You see and hear it clearly, since visually it's between you (the audience) and John/sword wielding ninjas. The effect is pretty neat.
Zero fanboy-ing over John Wick was also pretty great, though like the fight scenes in general, went one or two steps too far. It was a great running joke that over extended itself and ended up passing out along the side of the road.
The "all this over a dog" thing was brought up a couple times too many as well.
Last but not least, Sophia (Halle Berry) and the Belgian Malinois were awesome! I read that she trained for 6 months learning how to train dogs (or training with them for 6 months, depending on the article) and broke 3 ribs during production. There's a fight scene where the dogs are masterfully utilized and you can't help but walk away wanting a pack of them yourself.
Side note: I find it quite entertaining that John Wick's new dog, a grey pit bull, is basically a giant lapdog. Presumably John chose him at the end of the first movie because he was a lethal, fighting breed...and then he turns out to have the temperament of a Labrador. 😆
You're a fan of John Wick, Keanu Reeves or gunjitsu in general, I would recommend check out Chapter 3!
Fun Facts:
- On May 20th, 'John Wick: Chapter 4', along with its release date, was confirmed via a text message: "You have served. You will be of service. John Wick: Chapter 4 is coming - May 21st, 2021."
- The title "Parabellum" comes from the Latin phrase: "Si vis pacem, para bellum" which means "If you want peace, prepare for war." It is also an alternate name for the ubiquitous 9mm handgun cartridge ("9mm Parabellum"). The phrase itself appears twice in the movie: it is tattooed on the back of the ballerina girl in the beginning, and Winston (Ian McShane) says it out loud later in the movie.
- The two main sidearms used by John Wick are the Glock 34 and the STI 2011, both chambered in 9mm "parabellum". Both pistols are heavily modified by Taran Tactical.
- "Guns. Lots of Guns." (From the trailer) The same line used by Neo (Keanu Reeves) in the Matrix.
- Halle Berry had to learn dog training during the production. She ended up spending six months learning how to train dogs.
- When shooting in Essaouira, Morocco, the set was besieged by hundreds of stray cats. According to Chad Stahelski, the crew had to build literal walls of cages to house them and, more importantly, to keep them from distracting the dogs featured in the scene.
- This film reunites former Matrix cast: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Tiger Hu Chen, and Randall Duk Kim (the keymaker). John Wick trilogy director Chad Stahelski also served as the Martial Arts stunt coordinator for the Matrix trilogy as well as Keanu Reeves' stunt double.
- The Adjucator stays in Room 217 in the Continental. Room 217 is the room used in the book of The Shining, while the movie adaptation changed this to Room 237
- The glass-structure where John fights Shinobi 1 and Shinobi 2 in the film's climax cost $4 million to construct.
- The showdown in the Continental lobby contains many intentional lighting changes, and one of them is a direct allusion and tribute to a key Matrix scene and overall Matrix Trilogy color theme.
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To Aladdin's credit, I didn't spend the movie comparing it to the 1992 animated version. This is largely due to Will Smith's Genie. While repeating many of the same lines and songs, he's very much his own character, which keeps the audience from wishing (pun intended) Robin Willliams' Genie had been there instead.
The same could be said for most of the main rolls. I thought it was a wise choice to age-up Aladdin (Mena Massoud) and Jasmine (Naomi Scott), which eliminated the "teenage angst" aspect of their characters. In general, Aladdin was more likable and Jasmine showed greater maturity than her animated counterpart. She exhibited the capacity to be a good ruler, as opposed to just making her an "empowerment" type character without any real substance. She makes an effort to study and learn and as well as shows compassion for her subjects. She comments about how her mother cared so much about the people and how disappointed she would be to see how their conditions had deteriorated since her death. Her father, the Sultan (Navid Negahban), was also an improvement. While he leaves something to be desired as a leader, he wasn't a bumbling buffoon like in the first movie.
The awkward courtship of Genie and Dalia (Nasim Pedrad) is super adorable and a great addition to the story.
Speaking of Genie, I could have used less of blue Will Smith. Thankfully he "blends in" most of the time, disguised as Aladdin's servant and therefore appearing like a human (ie. not blue). There's just something excessively off-putting about the Genie when he's blue. I think it's because he looks too human (and like Will Smith) and the unnatural blue is just...weird.
The only real disappointments were Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) and Iago (who I had no idea was Alan Tudyk until I looked it up for this post. Somehow that's even more disappointing). Both characters were better in the animated version. Jafar lacked the epic voice and intimidation factor and Iago couldn't seem to decide if he was a sentient parrot or one that just repeated what people said with a few original lines thrown in periodically.
If you're a fan of the animated Aladdin or are looking for a fun family-friendly movie, I would suggest giving this update a try.
Fun Facts:
- Frank Welker reprises his roles as Abu and the Cave of Wonders from the original film, making him the first cast member from a Disney animated feature to play the same character(s) in the live-action remake.
- Sir Patrick Stewart campaigned for the role of Jafar. He had previously turned down the role in Aladdin (1992) and has regretted it ever since. (Gosh dang it! Why didn't they say YES?!)
- In the "Friend Like Me" number, the Carpet does the Carlton dance from Will Smith's comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (1990).
- During the scene when Aladdin asks Genie to "make him a prince", Genie produces an actual prince in the background. The prince is dressed in colors of pink & lime green, the same colors in the title logo & a nod to Will Smith's comedy The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air(1990). So, the Genie created the Fresh Prince for Aladdin.
- When Aladdin is shown 'Ababwa' on a map by Genie, the map also features Disneyland locations: Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Adventureland and the Magic Kingdom.
- When the Genie shows Aladdin a floating scroll, the drawing contains Aladdin, the Genie and the Sultan in their animated forms from Aladdin (1992).
- During "A Whole New World", the Carpet flies over the Pridelands of The Lion King (2019).
- The "Prince Ali" song has the lyric "Sunday Salaam" changed to "Friday Salaam". This is actually accurate, as the holy day for Muslims is Friday not Sunday.
- At the beginning of the film, the wife tells her husband to tell the children a story with song. He refuses and in the same breath begins his story (with song). Like a good husband - and genie - he obeyed his wife's "wishes."
~ Katie Q. 🐧
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