John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum premiered in New York on May 9, allowing critics to share their takes on the third tale of Keanu Reeves' ridiculously competent and murderous assassin. The overall take seems to be that Parabellum fails to live up to the highs of the first two films while still being an incredibly enjoyable and slick film worthy of the current, Indonesia-led renaissance of action movies.
The third installment won't hit theaters nationwide until May 17, but critics are priming fans of the series to head to the cineplex for more of the same from Reeves' unflappable and legendary killer.
Brian Truitt of USA Today praised Reeves' performance as Wick:
Karen Han noted that Parabellum follows an established formula for Wick movies and (mostly) does a great job of it. Via her review for Polygon:
Ignatiy Vishnevetsky said that the unstoppable force of John Wick may well be showing signs of fatigue in the latest movie. From his review for A.V. Club:
Richard Roeper said that the latest Wick might be the greatest Wick in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times:
It's good to see that the quality level of Wick movies remains fairly high, especially if you believe Ian McShane's proclamation that the movies will keep going for another decade. If the reviews have convinced you to jump into the latest John Wick flick—or you just need a primer on the absolutely bonkers mythology surrounding Wick and other assassins—take a look at our all-encompassing John Wick-lopedia.