John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum – 2019 Stahelski
An impressive blend of Hong Kong-like action choreography and a Skyfall-like focus on set-piece background visuals
There’s a stunner of a teal stain-glass window
The entire glass house section towards the end of the film (the glass skull room) is spectacular. The showdown with Ian McShane is like the squid fight scene in Skyfall
Why not have a knife fight in a chandelier factory? Haha—again- love the dedication to the background—there’s another standout later with the green-lit blackout fight sequence at the Continental
It’s world-building. The strict assassin rules, the Continental mythology, it’s raining constantly, a neon-infused not too distant future a la Blade Runner
@Harry- My favourite scene in the John Wick franchise comes in the 2nd film. The confrontation Wick has with the Claudia Gerini character. It’s not only very different from the usual Wick stuff but very atmospheric and hypnotic. And I also love the use of overhead shots in this scene.
@Malith – just watched Ballerina. It was surprisingly good for a hack director and hack DP, though I heard Stahelski ghost-directed or re-shot some of it according to Ian McShane. Ana de Armas is OK but not a whole lot to think about with the character and I’m not a Gabriel Byrne guy, he pales in comparison to all the JW4 villains easily.
I think some of the best parts are just the lighting and atmosphere of the theater and those are carried over from Stahelski so not a very original film. That said, the car crash long take was great. I rank it around #26 for 2025.
@Harry- Yeah. Byrne is not great. But I would still put him above Sven Nyqvist in the first John Wick as far as villains in the franchise go. Nyqvist tried to insert comedic humour into his performance which felt completely flat for me.
I thought there were some slow sections in Ballerina. The first 20 minutes are not particularly great. And then the capture and the scene with the sister is a bit awkwardly done. Otherwise it was pretty damn good. I think Len Wiseman did a pretty good job. I think the scene I’m confident Stahelski directed was the Ice Club scene in the first half. It was pretty spectacular. And the training montage also in the first half (with Sharon Duncan-Bewster’s voice-over I think). These sequences helped the film recover from a lumbering start. The car crash long take was well done indeed. Outside physical strength and stature Ana De Armas was a better lead than Keanu Reeves in every way. From line delivery to facial emotions among other things.
1. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) – MS
2. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) – R/HR
3. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) – R/HR
4. Ballerina: From the World of John Wick (2025) – R
5. John Wick (2014) – R
I just came out of watching John Wick 4 and I am absolutely flabbergasted. I have to ask: did I miss something with the previous installments? Because, even though I liked them quite a bit, I don’t think they came close to what Stahelski has pulled off in the new one, so either my judgment has radically changed or JW4 is an almost unprecedented improvement for a fourth entry in a film franchise. Spectacular action set pieces aside, the lightning and the overall attention to detail in its mise-en-scène (especially in the non-action sequences) is really something to behold. This has to be one of the biggest surprises I’ve had in a movie theatre in a while.
@David O.- Happy to hear it. I have seen all four in the last two weeks. Prior to this rewatch, I was underrating each one a little (1 and 2 were not in the archives and should be, and 3 was the best of the trio and I bumped it up a little) – but 4 is a different animal altogether. There were some artistic moments in 1, 2 and especially 3— but 4 is, often, breathtaking.
@David O. – I still have parts of the film running through my head a week later. I had the previous three as R before a rewatch. I kept the first two as R and bumped the third to a low HR. As much as I enjoyed the first three, the new one blew me away and was on an entirely different level. As @Drake said, it’s often breathtaking. I never thought I’d say this about a John Wick film, but I gave it an MS grade yesterday after sitting on it for a week. There is just too much to marvel at visually. It’s only April, but I think this will be my biggest surprise of the year.
Awesome, my OCD tells me I can’t collect blurays of movies that arent archivable here, I had a spreadsheet where I collect grades from you, TSPDT and IMDB for each one.
I can’t wait for you to see John Wick: Chapter 4. I think it’s the best of the series and one of the greatest pure action films ever, even though I don’t care to play the whole genre game. There are some incredible visuals and set pieces. One gunfight switches to an overhead extended tracking shot, and I think my jaw was on the floor for the entire sequence.
@Ian- Thank you very much for sharing. I have my ticket in hand to see it myself this week – very excited. Just rewatched the three previous films this past week.
Enjoy, Drake. I would honestly say what is done in 4 is reminiscent to what Mendes and Deakins do with with Bond; except here it is Chad Stahelski improving his own franchise by leaps and bounds (I do not know where this newfound ambition came from, just out of nowhere), and not Mendes/Deakins improving over franchise films from other directors. I would honestly also say that the gap between Wick 4 and the previous 3 is a larger gap than Skyfall is to say Casino Royale, or Spectre. I plan on doing a Skyfall rewatch soon, so perhaps my mind will change on that, but regardless, I think it’s close either way
It is SHOCKING just how much of an improvement 4 is. The set pieces and lighting simply levitate
@M*A*S*H- I have seen them, but only once and didn’t archive them when I did. They are very watchable. I’ve been meaning to see the whole trilogy again
This film is much stronger than an R/HR.
I put together a screenshot collection showing off the consistent lighting and blocking throughout.
https://imgur.com/gallery/john-wick-chapter-3-parabellum-GOlfJJA
And this doesn’t even fully capture the long take motorcycle chase nor the house of mirrors setpiece.
@Harry- My favourite scene in the John Wick franchise comes in the 2nd film. The confrontation Wick has with the Claudia Gerini character. It’s not only very different from the usual Wick stuff but very atmospheric and hypnotic. And I also love the use of overhead shots in this scene.
Plus, what did you think of Ballerina?
@Malith – just watched Ballerina. It was surprisingly good for a hack director and hack DP, though I heard Stahelski ghost-directed or re-shot some of it according to Ian McShane. Ana de Armas is OK but not a whole lot to think about with the character and I’m not a Gabriel Byrne guy, he pales in comparison to all the JW4 villains easily.
I think some of the best parts are just the lighting and atmosphere of the theater and those are carried over from Stahelski so not a very original film. That said, the car crash long take was great. I rank it around #26 for 2025.
@Harry- Yeah. Byrne is not great. But I would still put him above Sven Nyqvist in the first John Wick as far as villains in the franchise go. Nyqvist tried to insert comedic humour into his performance which felt completely flat for me.
I thought there were some slow sections in Ballerina. The first 20 minutes are not particularly great. And then the capture and the scene with the sister is a bit awkwardly done. Otherwise it was pretty damn good. I think Len Wiseman did a pretty good job. I think the scene I’m confident Stahelski directed was the Ice Club scene in the first half. It was pretty spectacular. And the training montage also in the first half (with Sharon Duncan-Bewster’s voice-over I think). These sequences helped the film recover from a lumbering start. The car crash long take was well done indeed. Outside physical strength and stature Ana De Armas was a better lead than Keanu Reeves in every way. From line delivery to facial emotions among other things.
John Wick Franchise films I have seen ranked:
1. John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023) – MS
2. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) – R/HR
3. John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) – R/HR
4. Ballerina: From the World of John Wick (2025) – R
5. John Wick (2014) – R
Is anyone going to check out Ballerina since Stahelski may have ghost directed it?
@Drake – aside from JW4 – may I please ask what are the current grades for the first three films in the trilogy at the moment?
@Harry
2014- John Wick R
2017- John Wick: Chapter 2 R
2019- John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum R/HR
2023- John Wick: Chapter 4 MS/MP
Just watched John Wick 4. Amazing film. Am I crazy for thinking that this might be a MS?
@Chris- Thanks for the comment and for visiting the site. That doesn’t seem crazy at all.
I tentatively put it down as a HR/MS after a single viewing, so I wouldn’t say it’s crazy. Need another viewing to be sure though
I just came out of watching John Wick 4 and I am absolutely flabbergasted. I have to ask: did I miss something with the previous installments? Because, even though I liked them quite a bit, I don’t think they came close to what Stahelski has pulled off in the new one, so either my judgment has radically changed or JW4 is an almost unprecedented improvement for a fourth entry in a film franchise. Spectacular action set pieces aside, the lightning and the overall attention to detail in its mise-en-scène (especially in the non-action sequences) is really something to behold. This has to be one of the biggest surprises I’ve had in a movie theatre in a while.
@David O.- Happy to hear it. I have seen all four in the last two weeks. Prior to this rewatch, I was underrating each one a little (1 and 2 were not in the archives and should be, and 3 was the best of the trio and I bumped it up a little) – but 4 is a different animal altogether. There were some artistic moments in 1, 2 and especially 3— but 4 is, often, breathtaking.
@David O. – I still have parts of the film running through my head a week later. I had the previous three as R before a rewatch. I kept the first two as R and bumped the third to a low HR. As much as I enjoyed the first three, the new one blew me away and was on an entirely different level. As @Drake said, it’s often breathtaking. I never thought I’d say this about a John Wick film, but I gave it an MS grade yesterday after sitting on it for a week. There is just too much to marvel at visually. It’s only April, but I think this will be my biggest surprise of the year.
Watched the trilogy for the first time in preparement for the fourth one, enjoyed all of them, are the first two archivable after your rewatch Drake?
@Oliver – Yes, all three are in now
Awesome, my OCD tells me I can’t collect blurays of movies that arent archivable here, I had a spreadsheet where I collect grades from you, TSPDT and IMDB for each one.
I can’t wait for you to see John Wick: Chapter 4. I think it’s the best of the series and one of the greatest pure action films ever, even though I don’t care to play the whole genre game. There are some incredible visuals and set pieces. One gunfight switches to an overhead extended tracking shot, and I think my jaw was on the floor for the entire sequence.
@Ian- Thank you very much for sharing. I have my ticket in hand to see it myself this week – very excited. Just rewatched the three previous films this past week.
Enjoy, Drake. I would honestly say what is done in 4 is reminiscent to what Mendes and Deakins do with with Bond; except here it is Chad Stahelski improving his own franchise by leaps and bounds (I do not know where this newfound ambition came from, just out of nowhere), and not Mendes/Deakins improving over franchise films from other directors. I would honestly also say that the gap between Wick 4 and the previous 3 is a larger gap than Skyfall is to say Casino Royale, or Spectre. I plan on doing a Skyfall rewatch soon, so perhaps my mind will change on that, but regardless, I think it’s close either way
It is SHOCKING just how much of an improvement 4 is. The set pieces and lighting simply levitate
@Matthew- Well done- I saw it- and this is spot on. High artistic ambition
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You don’t have it’s first and second parts in archievs. Are they watchable?
@M*A*S*H- I have seen them, but only once and didn’t archive them when I did. They are very watchable. I’ve been meaning to see the whole trilogy again