The assassin underground world gets ever so bigger with the latest installment of the John Wick franchise. More secret societies, more secret governments, less people NOT in the underground. Parabellum translates to “prepare for war.” Our butts and backs were not ready for the war of our seats in B&B theaters’ MX4D. How did the high octane action play out as we literally were in high octane action ourselves? Listen in to find out.
First and foremost, B&B Theaters is not endorsing or sponsoring this post. We talk about an aspect of their theaters, because its in one of their theaters that we saw John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum.
Because of a technical issue when seeing Shazam! we were given free passes to another film. We chose to use them to see John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. Only, it wasn’t just a regular ticket; this was for John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum in MX4D!!!!!
What is MX4D? In a nutshell, its motion seats and atmospheric effects used to enhance the movie viewing experience. The seats move in all directions, the backs punch you, and water sprays in your face. At times you can feel the wind in your hair when there is a car chase. And at other times you can smell what’s happening on screen. And with such a gun heavy movie as John Wick, a strobe flash for virtually every gun shot. Is this worth it? Maybe, maybe not. Let us tell you about the movie first.
All in all, there’s not much to say about the third chapter of John Wick. If you’ve seen 1 and 2, you know what you're getting into. John having to fight his way to survival in endless close quarters hand to hand, gun to gun combat. It’s the choreography that is the spectacle here.
Keanu Reeves doesn’t say much in this movie at all; at times he even quotes himself from The Matrix.
Halle Berry and her character’s attack dogs added a nice change of pace for the action. Mark Dacascos’s Zero made for a formidable antagonist that at times made the audience think perhaps John Wick has met his match. Ian McShane and Laurence Fishburne shine as they reprise their roles in the franchise. The most surprising and rewarding was Lance Reddick’s concierge character Charon. In past installments he’s been much like a concierge, there to answer questions and serve the needs of customers not getting involved in any sort of action. Here he arms himself not so much to defend John Wick, but to defend the hotel he loyally serves in.
Is MX4D worth it? Depends. John Wick is not a movie that requires a lot of attention to follow the plot. It’s not like trying to follow the plot of Memento where every frame is littered with subtext and clues to the truth of the narrative. John Wick is a shoot ‘em up film with lots of cool action… and that’s about it. When being jostled around by motion controlled hydraulic seats, you don’t want to worry about subtle plot details. The seats were harder than traditional seats and for the case of some of our butts, they started to go numb toward the end. With that aside, both the Brothers Brotastic couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous the insane motion could be sometimes. Andrew personally thought the MX4D made John Wick 3 much more enjoyable than if he had seen it in a standard theater.
Andrew gives JW3 1 ticket, he’s glad he saw it once.
Philip gave JW3 2 tickets. He thoroughly enjoys the franchise, and can’t wait to see where chapter 4 takes him.
Until next time, we’ll see you a the movies.
And don’t forget to check your ticket stubs.
