The third time is not just the charm for Baba Yaga. John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum is a sleek, explosive, world building sequel that doesn't stop at just offering jaw dropping blow your mind big screen action. The whole film, as designed by director Chad Stahelski and his crew, is a smart, elegant and ambitious ode to cinema. All kinds of cinema. The fact that this filmmaking team is not just enthralled by the kind of mayhem action movie conventions can provide (NINJAS ON MOTORCYCLES!!!) is what elevates this John Wick chapter from being just another summer sequel studio cash in.

The plot of this third outing for Keanu Reeves as the titular assassin with a soft spot for puppies and unwillingness to die begins just seconds after the ending of the last film. John Wick has broken the High Table's rules and the world sprawling crime organization has put out a hit on him. To escape his fate, Wick has to ask for help from people from his past. The first is played by the wonderful Anjelica Houston, who makes the most of scenes that illustrate where Wick's unbreakable life force was transformed into a lethal weapon. The other character who might be able to offer salvation is Sofia, played with thrilling gusto by Halle Berry. She is a mysterious woman with her own problems who owes John a favor. This turn of events not only switches the location of the on screen action mayhem from the streets of New York, but it also illustrates how Sofia's temperament might be even more explosive than Wick's.

Berry's fierce commitment to everything she gets to do onscreen in this movie is thrilling to watch. Even more satisfying is the fact that the film allows her to be a fully developed character who could easily carry her own franchise. But the attention to detail is not only heaped upon the movie's main characters. As a director Stahelski clearly relishes every opportunity to enrich the universe of these films. A mediocre director would have easily turned the simplicity of the plot into a marathon of filler exposition buffering the action sequences. Instead, the director attacks all the scenes with the  same level of ambition and takes every opportunity to highlight for the audience that this is a universe that lives and breaths in a tangible way with or without the mayhem generated by John Wick's effort to survive.

As fantastic as much of this film is, Stalhelski's ambition gets the better of him during the climatic action sequence that overtakes the Continental Hotel. After all the spectacular action that came before this marathon climatic showdown between Reeves and what seems to be one hundred movies worth of assassins might leave the audience a bit numb. This whole section is designed as if the director and his star were totally convinced they are not going to have another shot of doing another John Wick chapter. As ridiculous as that might sound, the go for broke excess of this finale ends up making the possibility of a fourth film even more exciting.

John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum NOW PLAYING in theaters everywhere!