#And then is like ruthless and go-getting and determined as FUCK. I love Johnny's character concept sm

[joejoeba]

Felt like doodling a quick Johnny (heavy emphasis on doodling)

[theliterateape]

I Like to Watch | John Wick Chapter 3 — Parabellum

By Don Hall

In preparation for John Wick Chapter 3 — Parabellum, I downloaded the two previous chapters and re-watched them. 

Aside from my obvious enjoyment of the story of an ex-assassin, known by the Russian mob as Babayaga (The Bogeyman) and spoken of in whispers of his legendary focus, determination, and will, mourning his dead wife and being gifted by her beyond the grave a puppy only to be thrust back into the game by a Russian mobster’s son, I found myself conflicted in two specific ways.

First, I do not like guns in principle or practice but I love watching Keanu Reeves shoot countless and faceless thugs in the head. Second, Reeves is 54 years old and, as a man of a certain age, it feels like the Hollywood stars of my youth are passing slowly into a place of irrelevance, like Stallone (whom I love) refusing to simply retire before one more Rocky, or Rambo, or Expendables.

These two conflicting emotional dilemmas make the viewing of what, on its surface, is a shoot-em-up action set-piece somehow more profound (and isn’t that the best way to experience art?).

The gun thing is complicated. In all three John Wick films, Reeves kills hundreds of people. Yes, they are bad guys. Yes, he’s on a mission of revenge and survival. Yes, there is some fun and intricate world-building going on. All of it is fantasy and the stunt work and fight choreography are nothing less than extraordinary. Yet the hero of the story shoots hundreds of people in the head, kills them with books, knifes, pencils, his bare hands. There is more bloodshed and ruthless murder in these three films than in any movie made about WWII or Viet Nam.

I’m finding it difficult to reconcile my full-throated enjoyment of this when sitting in a theater only a few miles from Mandalay Bay, the site of America’s worst mass-shooting in a country known to be nothing if not the gun closet of the globe.

Is it all just toxic masculinity disguised as entertainment? As I sat in the theater during the third installment, the audience reacted with a perverse glee at the most violent and over-the-top killings with guffaws and exclamations. I joined them, laughing at the outrageousness of Halle Berry’s dogs going for the balls of at least 30 different extras followed by her double-tap headshots and the spray of movie blood and brains. I can’t help but wonder why it’s so fun to witness, in fantasy form, the brutality on display. Like the early Romans who thrilled at slaves being gutted by wild animals as entertainment, I cheer the carnage without hesitation then go online and lobby for gun control and grieve those shot down in schools.

Layered on top of this is the realization that Keanu, as young as he appears, is the age of a grandfather.

In Polar, Mads Mikkelsen plays a retired assassin who looks and feels his age: 50. In that film it is obvious that he is my age as he seems more tired and ready for a nap. He certainly kills plenty of people but there is a bit of weariness as if he goes in for the kill and then wants nothing more than to sit down and nurse both his stab wounds and the fact that his lower back hurts from sleeping the night before. If I were a retired assassin, my mattress would be my greatest nemesis.

John Wick, like Ethan Hunt and Scott Lang, is getting long in the tooth but isn’t quite showing it yet.

In fact, all of my screen favorites are hitting Grandpa status: Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Denzel Washington, Robert Downey, Jr., George Clooney. They’re all aging well but they are aging nonetheless. As I watch Keanu leap from buildings I am amazed at the cinema magic and also caught in the disbelief that his increasingly brittle ankles could handle that shit without a nod to the unexpected pain of fragility settling in. Christ, Danny Glover’s character in Lethal Weapon was fifty and his tagline was “I’m getting too old for this.”

Beyond the age thing I am also struck by time passing my generation far more rapidly than I suppose makes me comfortable. I feel it swooping past in my interactions concerning politics and culture but the sense of being left behind didn’t strike fully until I watched John Wick Chapter 3. There are adults in the workforce today that weren’t even born when Rocky Balboa first fought Apollo Creed or when Luke met Ben Kenobi. I work with people who weren’t more than three years old when Keanu was The One in The Matrix.

I like being in my fifties. A lot. The household joke is that I’ve been waiting for my fifties for the last thirty years. I’m proud that I’ve lasted as long as I have and I’m quick to tout my age. Perhaps it is that the non-stop caffeine and nicotine have left me more youthfully preserved than many of my contemporaries (although not to bizarre level of, say, Paul Rudd). Since my early forties I am a certified gym rat. That track started out about vanity but now it’s far more about simply being in the kind of shape that allows me to stay on my feet for long periods and lift a heavy box or two without passing out.

I suppose the wisdom of the moment is to, like Keanu and his killer alter ego, keep moving forward, taking the hits and shaking them off, getting up each time I get knocked down. The world will pass me by, younger folk will replace me in a host of ways but, if I refuse to let age (or a bizarre underground league of super assassins) take me out too quickly, there might just be a Dylan Thomas thing going on.

Also, despite my reservations about the fucked psychology of someone adamantly non-violent reveling in the Ballet of Bloodshed, I loved the movie and I can’t wait for the fourth chapter.

[swimmingferret]

Well since you seem to be on a Jojo spiel, why don't you rate your fave Jojo to least fave?

🌟 Number 1- Giorno!

Giorno is my fave! A lot of people whine that he’s ‘boring’ but that seems to be with the original translation being rly bad (not Duwang levels bad, but still fairly bad) and the new translation fixes a lot of the crappy dialogue and writing. Tho why do people think ‘reserved’ is ‘boring’. Like just because Giogio isn’t loosing his shit constantly doesn’t make him boring. Also I love his stand? It reminds me of dryads and whatnot- I know it’s technically a nod towards the Pillerman/Kars, what with his dad being a vampire but I rly like Gold Experience and how Giorno weaponizes it. Like he murders Melone by turning the remains of his Stand into a venomous snake which kills him and he fucks up Diavolo completely.

Vento Aureo is also one of my fave arcs and has a lot of nifty fights and Stands running around (I like Nero and Diavolo/Doppio) and I think it really was a turning point in Araki going ‘How to give Stands fairly stupid/mundane sounding abilities but their users are smart enough to use it effectively in combat’ and that then became a strong theme throughout the constitutive Jojo adventures. It was a nice change from DIU and SDC where the Stand rule was like ‘My Stand can punch you hard and I win’ even if I complain about how convoluted some Stand powers are.

I also feel like Giorno is such a perfect mix of his dads- he’s got Jonathan’s loyalty and determination but also enough of Dio’s sheer ruthlessness to even it out.

But yeah, he’s my fave.

🌟Number 2- Jonathan!

He’s so sweet and lovely and giant. I love him. He just wanted a nice life with his sweet wife and friends. And also his dog RIP Danny.

I also didn’t actually realize how short Phantom Blood was compared to the other Jojo animes tho- like damn, only 9 episodes? Got enough angst in there tho, like yeah let me see Erina’s tearful goodbye and Jonathan saving his wife and restraining Dio in his dying moments. Also I love how fucking strong that boy is, like especially in EOH all the Jojo’s are like ‘wtf bro ur so goddamn tough’ but he’s such a darling marshmallow

Jonathan basically;

🌟Number 3- Josuke!

Another good boy, if not a bit more burnt and ragged. Also his Stand is pink and blue, like cotton candy. DIU is also an arc where...not a lot of people die despite it being around a serial killer (but damn did Araki make up that for that in the next arc lmfao).

He and Okuyasu are also sugar sweet which is better- those ‘i’m a rough delinquent but actually very sweet inside’ types are a fave cliche of mine lol

Also I love his hair? I imagine it would smell nice, since you get get that scented hair gel and I’d imagine Josuke would be the kind of person to buy that.

🌟 Number 4- Jolyne.

I loved Stone Ocean tbh even if a few parts pissed me off. I liked how durable and fucking ass kickery Jolyne was and how her Stand power sounded stupid af- wow I can turn into string - but she’s intelligent enough to weaponize it sufficiency enough to actually kick ass- and remember when she got shot and acted quickly enough to use her string as a pseudo-bullet proof vest? And Jotaro was like ??? when he stopped time and saw that she’d already done that by the time he activated Star. Also I love how the villain was a Priest- anime theme I’ll never get tired of is the Nun/Priests/Old People Are The Scariest Of Them All

I just...kinda wish she wasn’t so tom-boyish? She’s the only girl Jojo so far (thanks Araki :/) but she definitely acts like One Of The Boys and is the most crass and sexually deviant of the lot which is kinda...meh, for me. I know having a woman character act like that is out of the norm in manga however, and her arc around having a useless father is also important narrative wise since in Japan absentee/neglectful fathers is a cultural issue.

Her sweetness towards Emporior helped, but yeah that’s my main skeeve with her but I can understand it from Araki’s point of view so I can...endure so to speak lol

🌟Number 5- Gappy.

Jojolion is a narrative on crack and it’s like Araki’s just gone wild.

Tho why doesn’t Gappy have a ten-pointed star as his birthmark? Since he’s a fusion of two people with the star.

I don’t like how his name is the same as Josuke’s tho. :/ It’s kinda lame tbh and seens like...overly heavy handed in ‘HEY THIS IS AN ALT WORLD. NOT TOO SURE?? LOOK HE’S GOT THE SAME NAME AS ANOTHER JOJO’ like god araki we get it

Tbh these last three are more like ‘which jojos do u dislike more of them’ lmfao

🌟Number 6- Johnny.

I mean, he’s bitter, violent and cries all the time which is Relatable™ tbh 

He and Gyro are great together and after Araki’s little spiel about how you can totally write love between men I was fairly bitter with Johnny getting the ‘Straight married 10 yrs down the line and has a kid’ bullshit :/ like wow thanks.

Oh and why didn’t anyone ever go ‘why the fuck did you just shoot me with your fingernails, what the fuck is wrong with you’ to Johnny ‘cause like if someone DID shoot me with their fingernail I would utterly loose my shit cause that is just disgusting

I’m still mad over SBR tho and am of the opinion Johnny should’ve died and Diego should’ve lived so....

The end was also a mad cop-out and I get fed up with the ‘This disabled person gets magically cured and everything is wonderful’. I saw that treatment with Babs in DC Comics despite how BAMF she was even in a wheelchair which pissed me off and then Johnny gets the magical jesus cure which also pissed me off. Of course he didn’t fear jesus enough and fucked up later like sheesh boy didn’t the Steel Ball Run teach you anything??? Gyro didn’t die for that

🌟Number 7- Jotaro

I liked him in SDC since he was basically ‘I fucking hate this, fuck all of you, I want to go home’ the entire time and only went through with it to save his mum.

Also him calling Holly a bitch and her just being like ‘:D lmfao what a sweet lil ruffian my son is!! i love him’ always make me loose my shit because it was hilarious and then he went and got in a death fight with a vampire to save her

But then he just wouldn’t go away- he was in DIU and then Stone Ocean and it’s like god fuck off Jotaro you had your arc, go away. And then there was all the bullshit in EOH where he magically saved everyone with yet another Ass Pull and I got fed up with him and also in Stone Ocean it turned out he’s a shitty spouse and negligent father- I never understood men who marry and have kids and then just completely ignore them, like don’t fucking marry/spawn if you’re just gonna be a shitty person to them??? Oh yeah, I know it’s a ‘oh I can’t explain Stands’ thing with Jotaro but still it’s a completely shitty thing to do to the family, to neglect them ‘for their own good’ so that’s why he’s right down the bottom- a mixture of shilling and being a shit family man. You’d figure he would’ve learned from his own dead-beat father but I guess not :/

🌟Number 8- Joseph

This bitch cheated on his wife, so fuck him.