John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum (2019)

Whether it's the type of gun or the Latin word meaning "prepare for war" you're thinking of, Parabellum makes for the perfect title for the third chapter of the John Wick series, an action flick which unfortunately has too much action for its own good and becomes tiresome before even hitting the first hour mark. 

Co-written by the franchise's creator Derek Kolstad, the film picks up immediately where the previous left, with hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) on the run with his pitbull in Manhattan, New York, as he is declared excommunicado by the High Table and is now the target of every assassin in the world. 

Cut off from any help, John calls in a favour from The Director (Anjelica Huston) to go to Casablanca, Morocco, and bargain for his life with The Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui). In the meantime, an Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) from the High Table arrives to deliver consequences to those who helped Wick assassinate the member of the High Table at the Continental, and ensure that Wick meets his fate. 

Although it seems heavy plotted, just like its two predecessors, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum has a very thin plot which is laid out before our eyes within the first thirty minutes of the film and features elements — specifically the High Table, a secret society similar to 007's Spectre or Mission: Impossible's Syndicate — that aren't nearly as explored and developed as they should have. Unfortunately, while the first two films succeeded in spite of this lack, Parabellum suffers from it and, as a result, the film is quite tedious and unengaging. 

The writing is quite lacklustre character-wise too. While John Wick is still the badass hitman we fell in love with and started rooting for when he went on a killing spree to avenge his late wife's dog, and we learn more about his past and background, the supporting characters are disappointments, specifically new entry Sofia (Halle Berry), who barely has any reason to be in the film — from the promotional material I was expecting her to be much more important honestly.

The villain, Mark Dacascos's Zero, on the other hand, is quite memorable. He may not be the strongest villain in terms of writing but he does have a nice personality — which is occasionally the source of humour — and makes for a great (physical) opponent. 

As for the cast, John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum benefits from yet another charismatic although a bit wooden performance from Keanu Reeves; also, he may not be the greatest actor out there but he delivers a hell of a physical performance here. The rest of the acting is average at best though, and Anjelica Huston is wasted.

I have nothing negative to say about the visual aspect of the film though as it looks stunning, and it's a real feast for the eyes. The neon night sequences look gorgeous, the set pieces are fantastic, and the action sequences are beautifully choreographed. As I mentioned above though, there is too much action — the film is essentially two hours of non-stop action — and while it's inventive and entertaining at first, I eventually got tired of them as they lacked unique elements to make them stand out, or differentiate one from another.

50/50 (2011)

There's plenty of movies dealing with cancer, but the majority doesn't really know how to handle the subject properly and usually ends up being either the overly emotional type or the "living life to the fulled" type. It didn't seem like 50/50 was going to be one of those so I checked it out. 

Based on a true story, it follows Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a 27-year-old radio journalist in Seattle who lives with her girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard), of whom his best friend and co-worker, Kyle (Seth Rogen), disapprove. After experiences back pain for a while, he goes to the doctor only to be diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer. At first, he handles all with ease as he starts counselling with Katie (Anna Kendrick), a young phycologist, but as he begins chemotherapy, everything gets more complex — her relationship with Rachel, his friendship with Kyle, and his overbearing, needy mother, (Anjelica Huston).

If there's anything that must be said about 50/50 is that, although the plot is entirely driven by cancer, it does not fixate on it, nor does it melodramatize what we already know about a terminal illness like most films do. It also handles the subject incredibly well with humour, without, however, making fun of the illness, and it successfully shows the reactions of someone, a young person specifically, who tries to cope with it. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted to like it, I didn't find the story throughout compelling.

I’m giving the film a pass though as it’s not the plot that really counts but the fact that it works well as a character study of a young, play-it-safe man who after the initial shock handles his diagnosis with cynicism and reclusiveness, who’d rather send people away instead of having them closer and that decides to keep his many ups and downs internally. Joseph Gordon-Levitt gives such a strong, likeable and sympathetic performance you cannot help but root from Adam.

As for the supporting characters, although they aren’t particularly characterized nor developed, they all are useful as they have a purpose in Adam’s development, and the actors handle them very well. Seth Rogen does well in the role of Kyle, someone who desperately wants to help his friend but doesn’t quite know how and hides his fears and emotions behind a form of support that revolves around him. Anjelica Huston finds herself playing the over-top role of Adam’s overbearing mother and she does wonders with it. Anna Kendrick is the right person to play the quirky therapist. Bryce Dallas Howard does fine as Adam’s cheating girlfriend. Also notable is Serge Houde as Adam’s Alzheimer’s suffering father.

Summit Entertainment

One great aspect of 50/50 is that director Jonathan Levine decided to put more emphasis on the character’s perspective, especially when it comes to showing what Adam is going through — the sequence where Adam goes to the hospital for his first chemo treatment is terrific.

Unfortunately, despite the compelling and relatable character — although I don’t have nor have had cancer, I would react the same way Adam does —, the solid acting and the good direction, I wasn’t able to fully enjoyed the film, especially the second part — while I found the first part very engaging and entertaining as the humour is handled very well, the second part felt dragged and was rather boring and uninteresting.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

There's still plenty of time since Isle of Dogs hits theatres here (May 17 unless they decide to postpone it for some dumb reason) so I decided to take advantage of this time to watch the Wes Anderson movies I haven't seen yet. The Darjeeling Limited was one of them and it was also the one that had been on my watchlist for at least 10 years (I added to my list because of Natalie Portman but I'm so glad that at the end I didn't watch the movie for her because it would have been a major disappointment since she's barely in the movie). 

A year after the accidental death of their father, three brothers, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman), meet on a train, the Darjeeling Limited, and embark on a journey across India in an attempt to bond with each other. But Francis has something else in mind, visiting their mother (Anjelica Huston) who didn't even show up at their father's funeral. 

It's the typical Wes Anderson story about a dysfunctional family. There's the estranged brothers, the daddy issues, and the shitty parents, basically, who fucked them up. And there isn't much of a plot either, just a lot of things happening that don't really make a story. Also, it unfolds slowly (I totally see why someone may not like this).

And yet, the journey both physical but mostly spiritual of these three brothers is so fascinating, it kept me glued to the screen as if I was watching a thriller. The Darjeeling Limited is about letting things go, leaving the baggage behind --and these three have a lot of them, both literal and figurative ones. 

And it's also very fun to watch. Their journey does not go as planned, of course, and the brothers are forced to cope with many difficult situations --like a poisonous cobra on the loose on the train-- and things get pretty hilarious. The humour is dry and quick, and most jokes rely on characters' traits, but they work. 

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The characters are just as fascinating as the journey. Though Peter and Jack don't have a reason to join the journey in the first place --they complain as if they were forced to do this-- they are quirky and interesting, very flawed and yet likeable, but most important they feel real. And the relationship between them --or siblings in general-- is depicted very well. 

Of course, the actors playing them are important as well. Adrien Brody was the standout for me. His character, Peter, is the one with a wider emotional range, and Brody does a great job delivering that, and some good slapstick too. He also has a beautiful chemistry with Owen Wilson which makes their scenes very enjoyable. Jason Schwartzman is a bit weak though. He just doesn't seem to be able to come out of the shadow of the other two. Anjelica Huston does good as the runaway mother and there's a nice Bill Murray cameo too at the beginning. 

At last, The Darjeeling Limited has some pretty striking visuals --fantastic cinematography, surrealistic colours, beautiful composition, gorgeous and interesting locations-- and a great soundtrack that fits the story very well.

Choke (2008)

When someone tells you there's a movie where Sam Rockwell plays a sex addict and keeps posting gifs of said porn movie everywhere, you just can't sit there and ignore it. That, my friends, is the reason I watched Choke. I wasn't expecting much from it --Rockwell being in it was enough-- and I guess that's why it was such a nice surprise. 

As I was saying, Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict. He works in a colonial theme park and runs a scam by deliberately choking in restaurants to extract sympathy and financial support from his saviours to pay for his mother's (Anjelica Huston) hospital bills. Then one day Victor learns that his mother has been lying about his father's true identity all along and, with the help of his best friend Denny (Brad William Henke) and his mother's beautiful physician (Kelly Macdonald), he tries to discover the truth.

It's the kind of story that looks simple and predictable at first but eventually turns out to be quite unpredictable as it takes many implausible and interesting turns and a couple of delightful twists. Of course, if I knew Choke was based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel (the same guy who wrote Fight Club) I would have expected some twisted turns, but I'm sure I would have equally enjoyed the development of the plot.

Though engaging and interesting, it's far from being flawless. There are many subplots that aren't developed as they should have been --and probably as they were in the book. For example, we know why Victor chokes all the time in restaurants, but we don't get to see those people supporting him afterwards, which makes the whole storyline a little disconnected. Same goes for Denny's rock subplot. It looks as if Clark Gregg --who directed and wrote the script-- didn't know how to integrate those subplots into the main story.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The characters, on the other hand, are good. Not good as in good people. They are quite unlikable, to be honest. They are horrible, messed-up and antipathetic characters with no morality whatsoever but somehow you will end up rooting and caring for them.

I should probably give the credits to the cast though, not the director/writer. Sam Rockwell once again gives an excellent performance. He brings so much energy into the film and he plays the sleazy bag to perfection. It's his performance that elevates the quality of the film. Brad William Henke is a delight as Victor's friend Denny. Anjelica Huston does a good job as the selfish, manipulative but loving mother. Kelly Macdonald is good as the doctor caring for Victor's mother. And Clark Gregg is hilarious as the arrogant Lord High Charlie, an asshole working with Victor at the theme park.

That being said, Choke doesn't work that well as a black comedy. Gregg tried but he wasn't able to balance well the dramatic and comic aspects of the story. Also, the comedy doesn't always work. And I feel like Victor's sex addiction could have been explored more.