{"id":24594,"date":"2019-05-19T08:01:23","date_gmt":"2019-05-19T07:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=24594"},"modified":"2019-05-19T08:01:25","modified_gmt":"2019-05-19T07:01:25","slug":"the-growing-success-of-the-john-wick-film-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rogerdarlington.me.uk\/nighthawk\/?p=24594","title":{"rendered":"The growing success of the “John Wick” film franchise"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, there was “John Wick”<\/em> [my review here<\/a>]; this was followed by “John Wick: Chapter 2”<\/em> [my review here<\/a>]; and, now newly-released we have “John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum”<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word ‘parabellum’ is Latin for ‘prepare for war’ and also a calibre of bullet so, even if you haven’t seen the previous two films in the franchise, as long as you understand the title of this movie, you’ll know what to expect. In fact, John Wick has now become a well-known action hero and the franchise has built up a growing following so viewers know exactly what to expect and they will not be disappointed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like any successful entry in a popular franchise, you have all the elements of the original movie – most notably scene after scene of wonderfully staged and choreographed slaughter of anyone seeking to block or take out the eponymous and mythic hitman – with the return of some familiar characters, some new characters, a new location, a developing plot, and many more bodies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story picks up just 45 minutes after the conclusion of the previous chapter and the pace is unrelenting. Mostly we’re still in New York but there is a foray to Casablanca. New characters include The Adjudicator from The High Table who serves up punishment on anyone who helps Wick (non-binary actor Asia Kate Dillon), a one-time colleague of Wick and accomplished assassin Sofia (an excellent Halle Berry), and an ultra-destructive team led by Zero (martial artist Mark Dacascos) whose two side-kicks are played by real-life champion kickboxers who starred in “The Raid” movies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing subtle about a John Wick movie. It is always utterly over-the-top and at times knowingly comical but, for mindless entertainment of a certain sort, this is a franchise on a roll that deservedly will be around for a while longer. And, why not? We all need a bit of escapism sometimes. Oh, for the record, one estimate of this film’s body count is a record 167.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"