Baba Yaga 3: A movie review

A man and his dog, a man and his car, a man and his wife… Those 3 storylines where given the Keanu Reeves treatment back in 2014 with the original John Wick movie that blew up and created a great gap of opportunity that he did not waste. In my opinion, his best trilogy and one of the most consistent action franchises out there (second to Mission Impossible of course) got its third installment called Parabellum and of course, I HAD to watch and review.

The movie, AMAZING; the ending not as much.

I believe the action sequences, the fighting choreography and the directness and simplicity of the plot add up to an amazing action experience that you have to enjoy in the movie theatre. This is NOT a movie best suited for the couch at home. The audiovisual experience of following the Baba Yaga as an “excommunicato” is worth every penny you pay. Keanu Reeves is a no-surprise amazing actor that gets dirty and gritty in his own Tom-Cruse-ian way, he cares about the product and you can feel it coming out from the screen. And allow me to be the bringer of good news that Halle Berry matches Reeves acting and pushes the plot and the action forward.

Now let’s talk about creativity. How they manage to continue to impress EVERYONE going to watch these movies with new, crazier, bigger, continuous action sequences? I have no way to explain the amazement and the way the audience sat at the edge of their seat every action sequence because we knew not what new inventive kill they would come up with. The use of non-weapons and weapons alike for battle is something that keeps you intrigued, everything around them is dangerous, it is almost a Final Destination kind of intrigue where nothing is a “simple object”.

Now, for the one and only part that to me brought the movie down a peg compared to the previous 2 installments: the ending. A big part of poker is to know when to go all in, but also when to fold. John Wick as a franchise should know when to fold. I do not mean to end the universe, because clearly the lure of this world of assassins is more than welcome to grow and make us understand its long history and strong structure. What I mean is that they should have an ENDING, they leave us off again in a cliff-hanger of an ending clearly made to continue making these… Therefore, if they can be creative with the action pieces, the weapon use and the world building, all I ask for is that the plot have a creative treatment as well.

If you like action movies this is a MUST, if you are going in here expecting a complex and layered plot intriguing movie, you might want to get into a more action mood by watching at least the first installment and then decide whether or not to watch this awesome action flick.