John Wick 3 Debuts with Near-Perfect Rotten Tomatoes Score

Just a week ahead of release, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is one of the highest-rated films of the franchise so far. After reviews for the film started filtering in, it debuted with a near-perfect 97 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As of this writing, 32 reviews have been counted with just a single “Rotten” review coming from Variety‘s Andrew Barker.

Should the threequel hold steady at 97 percent, it’d go down as the highest-rated John Wick by far. The debut film in the franchise, 2014’s John Wick, is Certified Fresh at 87 percent while John Wick: Chapter 2 followed up with a slightly better rating at 89 percent Certified Fresh. In both cases, the review-aggregating site’s Audience Score closely matched the critic-based Tomatomater with 80 and 85 percent tallies, respectively.

Barker’s review is sure to critique the film’s desensitized violence, saying the film is “an exercise of pure aesthetic desensitization.” In the 31 “Fresh” reviews, most reviewers praise the film’s “radiant” stunt work, saying it’s the best of the franchise yet.

Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Nashawaty compared says that as far as action films go, John Wick: Chapter 3 is “high art.”

“I don’t mean to give the impression that John Wick 3 is anything grander than a gorgeously choreographed, gratuitously violent action movie,” Nashawaty says. “But as gorgeously choreographed, gratuitously violent action movies go, it’s high art.”

Another review teased the potential for a John Wick: Chapter 4, something director Chad Stahelski previously said he’d entertain so long as the box office kept producing results.

“I enjoy making these movies because there’s no limit,” said Stahelski. “We create our own mythology, and we have a studio that both stays out of our way and supports us on the wacky decisions. If people go see the movie, and it makes money, and they came back to us, Keanu and I have ideas for days. I could live here for the rest of my career. If people like it and want to watch more, I could think of way worse ways to spend your career. But, you know, we’re in the entertainment business. We’ll let the audience figure that out.”

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum speeds into theaters May 17th.

Are you looking forward to John Wick 3? What’s been your favorite Wick film so far? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below or by hitting me up on Twitter at @AdamBarnhardt!

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