This month we have two of the biggest movies of the year. Chances are, you’ve already seen them. But now that you can watch them in your own home, I wondered, do these really hold up? Can I see myself watching these two again from my couch or were these as successful as they were because of the public spectacle?
Now, I know I am about to offer up some hot opinions here and that some of you are going to think I’ve gone off my rocker. I want you to know that I have thought about this a lot and have tried very hard to be fair. I am not some sort of super fan of either of these movie series. I’m just a bipedal, feline rhetorician who has seen more than his fair share of movies and is trying to give it to you straight.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019) [R]
That may be the most annoying movie title I have seen in a while. It is almost as if they couldn’t decide what was most important. Just call it John Wick 3 and be done with it. If you have to use two different punctuation marks in your title, you’re doing it wrong.
By the way, Para Bellum is Latin for “prepare for war” so that should give you an idea of where the plot of this goes if you somehow were unaware. This isn’t going to win Best Screenplay, folks. But you don’t care. You want action. And John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is here to deliver. Man, that title is annoying.
The action starts from the very beginning with a surprisingly enjoyable fight scene in the New York Public Library with the very large (and new Dallas Maverick) Boban Marjanovic and rarely stops for the remainder of the film’s 2+ hour length. The movie manages to cover all manner of combat and even delves into a few I don’t know that I remember seeing (Ninja attack dogs with little bullet proof vests … that’s a new one on me). Is it over-the-top? Indeed. Is it slightly ridiculous? Most definitely. But it sure is fun.
Now, the plot is pretty barren. I would normally describe a little of it in a review to get you interested in the film but honestly, there isn’t much there. Keanu Reeves gets chased by folks and kills them. That’s about it.
The acting is … well, it is present. Reeves essentially hits the same emotional note for two hours. Laurence Fishburne’s character, “Bowery King,” sure moves and sounds a whole heck of a lot like “Morpheus” from The Matrix films. Halle Berry is the same “action” Halle Berry you’ve seen before.
Everything about John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (Eugh!) is in service to the action scenes. And that is a bit of a shame. This could have easily been a better made movie. But I’m not sure you could have made it more entertaining. And believe it or not, that translates to the smaller screen in your house.
I’m giving this a lower rating than the movie below but here’s the funny thing. I liked Parabellum better. I would be way more likely to watch this again than our next film. Is it the best made movie? No. But it has style and panache and some of those fight scenes are just breathtaking. If you know what you are getting yourself into, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is definitely worth your time.
7 paws out of 10
Avengers: Endgame (2019) [PG-13]
Here’s where I suspect I am going to lose a couple of loyal readers. Let’s talk about the biggest movie of 2019 so far, Avengers: Endgame. Now, I want to start off by saying that I am not a Marvel fanatic. I’ve seen all of the movies from the past decade so I have a general understanding of the universe and the story line. But I’m not driving around with a IRNMAN license plate or anything.
In case you haven’t seen it yet, you’ll want to watch the preceding movie Avengers: Infinity Wars first. But to really get what is going on, there’s probably at least seven or eight others you need to have seen. Basically, Endgame starts off after Thanos has snapped half of the population of the universe out of existence. The rest of the movie is about the fight to bring them back. It is more complicated than I have made it sound, of course. But you likely already knew all of this so let’s move on.
First, I should talk about what I liked about Endgame. It isn’t easy to tie up all of these story lines, but I have to give the writers credit here. Endgame is about 3 hours long and there are tons of things to clear up, but by and large the filmmakers managed to get it all done. Of course, the movie looks grandiose. And it should as the budget for Endgame was roughly equivalent to the annual GDP of Denmark. It is a very high-quality, well-made film.
But…
It is also so well polished that I kinda got tired of staring at it. There are so many plot lines and so many characters and so much action going on that I started feeling a little numb. Those moments that are supposed to tug at your heart strings … I didn’t find them particularly moving, and I attribute that to the sensory overload I was feeling. I thought maybe a second viewing at home might help things, but it actually made them worse. There is just too much going on for me to really care about any of it.
I don’t want you to think I didn’t like Avengers: Endgame. I actually think almost everyone will at least “like” Endgame. And maybe that’s the problem. They tried to make something for everyone that answered everything. But by throwing so many different ingredients into the pot, nothing has a chance to stand out. Everything is good, but nothing is great.
7.5 paws out of 10
As always, if you have a movie you think I should check out or you want to talk further about one of these reviews, drop me a line on Facebook.