Johnathan Hudson

It was just an ok movie. all these five star reviews had my hopes high, but honestly it wasn't all that. While there was action, but not as much as I was expecting, it wasn't anything new. Hollywood just doesn't make good, fun, clean action movies anymore besides Tom Cruise and the occasional animated action film (I miss the old Jackie Chan golden days). That being said, this movie was heavy on the gore/blood. My main gripe was with the over usage of traumatic abstract flash back scenes. We get that he has a traumatic past which now drives his current actions, but it's drilled into our head far too much.And along the same lines, this is just another revenge driven movie with not much substance to it. People were saying they loved the story, but there wasn't much of one in my opinion. Just revenge and an agenda of promoting the alternative transgender lifestyle. We've also had enough of that. Godzilla x Kong was a better time at the movies than this. It kind of drags halfway through, no pun intended.

The first of the Guardians films remains my favorite of the trilogy, with this entry, volume three, being second. This, the third entry, seems to lack a lot of what made the first one so very popular, that including the wide array of classic, Motown and old-time rock music that made it so memorable. Seems here they stuck mostly with light folk music, and had hardly much of any Motown that really made scenes stand out or funky. Not as much action, and when it does happen it's short-lived and not as detailed or impressive as previous entries or other Marvel films. This film focuses more on backstory, and is told in conjunction with present events that help give us more depth into one of the most loved members of the Guardians. The comedy is mostly funny, unless you've seen some of the best bits already in the trailers, but the story could have been better as it seems to be one bumbling task after another. As of late, it just seems that Marvel's Space-based movies don't hold as much gravity or intrigue as their more grounded films (Black Panther, Spider-Man, Cap Amer), and they just remain outliers on my list of best marvel movies. To date, it seems Black Panther 2 and No Way Home are marvel's best endeavors post Infinity War. Things will never be the same.

2.5 stars - Gonna be one of the very few who are not blinded by all the action and gun slinging, which was fairly repetitive to be honest. And it doesn't make much sense to me why The Transformers movies get review bombed and the John Wick films do not, especially considering that the overall story becomes counter productive and uninspired towards the end of this film. Of course it all began with John wanting to take revenge on the murderers who took his dog's life and stole his car, but, as is stated in the fourth film, your actions have consequences. The High Table, who were once his employers, demand John be sentenced to death, as are the rules after he broke the rules at the end of the second film, taking the life of someone who, again, double crossed him (John). So, the story over the course of 4 movies is strictly driven by vengeance, and the 4th film kind of makes redundancy of it all when there's suddenly another way for John to be set free from his death punishment, despite the disgrace he's caused the members of the High Table. Apart from the simple, but convoluted story of vengeance, the action is more of the same: point and shoot, but the only difference here is where that takes place. While the overhead camera shot towards the end is cool, it doesn't change the fact that point, shoot, reload, grapple, point shoot, rinse, repeat, gets old after 4 movies and brings nothing new to the table. The fight choreography is better, and Donnie Yen shines here, but there's still more that could be explored. My main gripe with the action was just that they completely expect us to forget that John is human, as he takes bullets at point blank range in a seemingly "bullet-proof" suit that guards his person with him only needing to hide behind his coattails. It's kind of ridiculous, also considering Yen plays another blind character, similar to that of the one from Star Wars Rogue One, and he's able to go effortlessly toe to toe with people in hand to hand combat and shootouts? At this point, John Wick is more of a superhero movie or super powered person movie, than just a regular guy going against the odds. If it weren't for the lack of an interesting story, with a main character who's unjustifiably killing hundreds of people after he broke their rules, and the repetitive gun action, and super unrealistic nonexistent bodily harm done from high falls and bullets taken at point blank range, I'd say it was a great action movie. But it's simply ok. Tone it down some and give it some grounded action and odds, then I'd be more invested. Right now it's boring just knowing for SURE John Wick can and will win a fight against thousands of gun toting goons who have military grade artillery.