Four John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum parallels you may have missed

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a cinephile’s homage to film – particularly action films – blending both subtlety and outright fanboyism.

The assassin backbone of John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is a world structured in honor, code, and rules. Only within that codification can such a concept rise above the thin line between absurd and plausible.

Supporting the frenetic John Wick-pace is a litany of film influences that are thicker than the gun smoke in the air. Indeed, count the shell casings on the floor and each may as well be engraved with the cinematic inspiration.

Here are four of the connections you may have missed (Caution: minor spoilers ahead).

There is no good or bad, just ugly.

The first and most obvious tip of the hat goes to the classic The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. For those who are unfamiliar (shame on you), there are three men aiming for the same prize. One of the men is named Tuco Benedicto Pacífico Juan María Ramírez (AKA “The Rat”), and he’s absolutely lethal with a revolver.

To prove his lethality, there is brilliant scene where he goes into the gun shop and starts interchanging the parts. A cylinder from gun A, a barrel from B. Grab a hammer from somewhere else, and link them to the preferred grip. Apparently in his spare time, when he’s not killing soldiers and bounty hunters, Tuco is a revolver connoisseur.

John Wick goes so far as to test the sound of the spinning cylinder in the same manner. He’s more of a BAMF than Tuco wishes he were.