John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)

Film and Plot Synopsis

John Wick is back with another globe trotting adventure. This time, John is being hunted by every assassin in the world after being classified ex-communicado by the High Table for the unauthorized killing of Santino D’Antonio. With few allies left, John travels around the world to find the Elder, the one person who may forgive John for his transgressions. However, will John be willing to make the sacrifice needed to restore his status under the table before he is killed by an ever-expanding world of colorful assassins?

‘John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum’ Movie Summary

Chapter 3 begins immediately following the events at the end of John Wick: Chapter 2. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) has been excommunicated from the criminal underworld for the unauthorized killing of High Table crime lord Santino D’Antonio (Riccardo Scarmarcio) on the grounds of the Continental. John is relentlessly pursued through the streets of New York by hitmen looking to collect on his contract. John goes to the New York Public Library and retrieves a marker medallion and a rosary. He battles a hitman named Ernest (Boban Marjanović) and wins, but John is injured. John stops by an underworld doctor (Randall Duk Kim) who begins to stitch up John until the clock strikes the top of the hour when the contract goes into effect. The doctor is forced to stop his efforts for fear of repercussions from the High Table for assisting John. John finishes his own treatment.

After leaving the doctor’s office, John is pursued by wave after wave of assassins. John kills them all and fights his way to the Director (Anjelica Huston), the head of the Ruska Roma crime syndicate. John presents her with the rosary and demands that she provide him safe passage to Casablanca. The Director reluctantly agrees and refers to John by his birth name, Jardani Jovonovich, implying that there is some family relationship between them. John is whisked away to be transported to Casablanca.

Meanwhile, a High Table Adjudicator (Asia Kate Dillon) arrives at the New York Continental. She has a meeting with both the Continental manager Winston (Ian McShane) and the Bowery King (Laurence Fishburne), men who helped John during his dispute with Santino. The Adjudicator informs both men that they have seven days to resign from their positions and to get their affairs in order as a consequence of their actions. The Adjudicator also hires Zero (Mark Dacascos), a Japanese assassin, to assist her with her duties, which includes the execution of John. Zero and the Adjudicator visit the Director who is subsequently stabbed through both of her hands for providing safe passage to John.

A short time later, John arrives safely in Casablanca and seeks out Sofia (Halle Berry), a former friend of John and the manager of the Moroccan Continental. John presents his marker to Sofia which requires her to assist John with a debt. It is revealed that years before John rescued Sofia’s daughter and put her into hiding in a location that even Sofia does not know. John demands that Sofia take him to the Elder (Saïd Taghmaoui), the only person who sits above the High Table. An extremely reluctant Sofia agrees to take John to Berrada (Jerome Flynn), her former boss who may provide some help to John.

At the meeting, Berrada informs John that if he wants to find the Elder that he merely needs to wander through the desert until he can walk no longer. As the meeting concludes, Berrada insists that Sofia provide one of her highly trained Belgian Malinois to him for taking the meeting. When Sofia refuses, Berrada shoots one of the dogs which survives due to the bullet proof vest it was wearing. Sofia looks to respond, but John prevents her from killing him. At the point, Berrada reveals that John is not going to leave the meeting alive. John, Sofia, and the dogs fight their way out of Berrada’s kasbah, killing nearly everyone in the building. The pair drive into the desert where Sofia leaves John to begin his walk into the wasteland to search for the Elder.

A week later in New York, the Adjudicator and Zero visit the Bowery King to see if he has his affairs in order. The Bowery King refuses to abdicate his position as the leader of his organization. Zero and his followers respond by killing all the Bowery King’s men and slashing the King seven times with a wakizashi.

Back in the desert, John collapses from dehydration and exhaustion. He finds himself brought before the Elder. John pleads that he wants to make amends and to continue living to keep the memory of the love he once had for his deceased wife (Bridget Moynahan). The Elder agrees to forgive John if the hitman will agree to return to New York and kill Winston. Additionally, the Elder insists that John will have to remain subservient to the High Table for the remainder of his life. John shows his loyalty and commitment to the High Table by severing his ring finger and giving the Elder his wedding ring.

A few days later, John returns to New York. Upon arrival, John is attacked by Zero and his students, but John successfully fights them off long enough for him to reach the protection of the Continental. John meets with both Winston and the Adjudicator. Winston refuses to abdicate, and John refuses to kill Winston. As a result, the Adjudicator revokes the Continental’s neutral status and sends an army of armored soldiers and Zero into the Continental to kill both John and Winston.

As the forces enter the hotel, Winston hides in a sealed vault in the basement of the building while John and the hotel’s staff, including the concierge Charon (Lance Reddick), take on the overwhelming odds. Eventually, John and the hotel staff kill all the invaders except Zero and some of his men. John is ambushed by Zero and his men in the museum room of the hotel. John kills them all but Zero. The two men fight for a long time before John eventually beats Zero and leaves him to die. 

A short time later, Winston meets the Adjudicator on the rooftop of the hotel to parley. Winston offers his continued allegiance to the High Table. John arrives at the meeting after killing Zero. Winston suddenly shoots John to prove his loyalty to the High Table. John falls off the roof into the alley below. The Adjudicator once again consecrates the Continental and restores Winston as manager. Meanwhile, a severely injured John is secreted away by some of the Bowery King’s men. John is brought before a still living Bowery King. The two men agree to join forces against the High Table.