Summary
- Director Chad Stahelski felt that he and Keanu Reeves let fans down with John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
- Despite this, the film was well-received by fans and had an “A-” CinemaScore rating, showing that audiences enjoyed it.
- Stahelski considers the first John Wick film as his favorite, but believes that the second film expanded upon the mythology and symbolism, making it significant in the franchise.
Just like John Wick, Chad Stahelski is ready for any challenge. The famed director has helmed each and every action-packed installment of the John Wick film franchise, which, of course, stars Keanu Reeves as the dog-loving hitman. The Baba Yaga seemingly died at the conclusion of John Wick: Chapter 4, which might have rubbed some fans the wrong way. But for Stahelski and Reeves, it’s John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum that leaves a bad taste in their mouths. Stahelski addressed the issue during a recent interview:
“[We] did the third movie, and then we were really done. We’re like, ‘We’re done.’ And then again, it was a year later, and we’re like — Keanu and I both felt like we kind of let everybody down on number three.”
If you asked moviegoers coming right out of cinemas, at the time of each film’s respective release, John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum was hardly the worst installment in the series. Fans leaving the theaters gave the third film an “A-“ CinemaScore, while the first John Wick performed the worst of all the pictures with a “B” rating. And Stahelski isn’t disputing the fact that the fans enjoyed it in the same interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast:
“I think it was well-received, but it was kind of like, people really like John, and they’re like, ‘What the f–, guys? You know, that was an action ending, great. But okay, what the f–? Tough talking mythology here, and you didn’t really wrap it up.’ And we started talking more and more, and we just felt like we didn’t leave everything we had on the table.”
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Disappointed Its Star & Director
John Wick director Chad Stahelski collaborated with writer Derek Kolstad on the first three installments in the franchise. John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum had the distinction of two more writers working on the screenplay alongside Kolstad. And at the end of the story, the Baba Yaga (Reeves) was left a wanted man in an epic cliffhanger. Yes, Stahelski and Reeves were upset with the film’s conclusion. And for the director, the seminal movie will always rank at the top for him. Stahelski said in the same interview:
“John Wick 1 is a great — is still my favorite. It’s the first, it’s where we came up with the character. But number two, whether it’s your favorite or least favorite in the series, it’s when we discovered the world. We did pathology, the iconology, the symbolism, the talismans. That’s when I really leaned into the mythology.”
At the end of the day, there’s arguably not a bad apple in the bunch. The critics’ ratings on Rotten Tomatoes have done nothing but go up since the first film hit theaters in 2014. And John Wick: Chapter 4 has the honor of being the only entry in the series to score higher than an 89% Tomatometer rating, at 94%. And each passing film has earned more and more money than its predecessor at the domestic, international and worldwide box office.