John Wick 3’s Dog Action Scenes Get A Surprising Amount Right, According To Expert

Summary

• John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
  ‘s shootout in Casablanca features some fairly realistic dog action, an expert reveals.
• While the biting tactics are accurate, Halle Berry’s character puts her dogs in too much danger and they likely wouldn’t survive in real life.
• The film’s dog action scenes continues the franchise’s interest in presenting innovative, hard-hitting, and well-choreographed action.

A former dog handler for the U.S. Army judges John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘s dog action scenes, finding that they actually get a lot right. Directed by Chad Stahelski, the third film in the hit action franchise features Keanu Reeves’ unstoppable assassin on the run from the High Table with a large price on his head. The film was met with positive reviews for its innovative action sequences, which includes a shootout in Casablanca with John Wick 3 cast newcomer Halle Berry, who plays Sofia, and her two Belgian Malinois dogs.

In a recent video for Insider, former U.S. Army dog handler Terry Adams Jr. analyzes John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum‘s dog action sequences in Casablanca.

While the action sequences feature Sofia putting her dogs in more danger than a handler would normally be comfortable with, many of the dog tactics on display aren’t all that unbelievable. Check out Adams Jr.’s analyzes and score for the film out of 10 below:

“If you notice, the dogs are targeting the arms and legs. You see that there’s some stomach shots. If the dog can’t get to the arm or leg, they’re going to go for another area, for sure. You see the two Belgian Malinois being worked together. The Belgian Malinois is an awesome dog. Before, the shepherd was the go-to dog, now the Belgian Malinois has replaced the shepherd based off of speed, stamina, size.

“Pretty badass, but this is not as common to teach. But once again, if the dog can’t get your leg or arm, it’s going to go for wherever it can get a solid bite.

“Scaling the wall to bite the subject is very realistic. In the military it wouldn’t be so realistic only because if we had a threat up high we would just neutralize that threat. But if we wanted to get a dog up high that is a possibility.

“You see a lot of crossfire from a lot of the good guys and the bad guys. The dogs probably wouldn’t last very long in the real world. Probably within the first or maybe second bite they would’ve been shot by someone. Realistically, we wouldn’t put our dogs freely in danger for a lot of that. They’ll be sent to a specific target and then brought back to us to make sure that we’re not getting any crossfire.

“These dogs are really desensitized to gunfire. Would’ve been also great to watch them have ear and eye [protection] based off of the new technology that’s provided today.

“I’m going to give that a seven out of 10. There’s a lot of shooting going on and normally a handler isn’t going to put their dog in harm’s way of that many guns.”

John Wick 3’s Dog Action Sequence Is A Franchise Highlight

The Hit Action Franchise Is Heavy On Canines

As seen in the chart below, all of the movies in the John Wick franchise have been generally well-recieved by both audiences and critics. Each film ups the ante in terms of the action on display, and last year’s acclaimed John Wick: Chapter 4 is arguably the best movie of the bunch. While the third film features some highs and some lows, the dog-heavy action scene in Casablanca is not just a highlight of the movie, but of the franchise at large.

One of the main reasons why the John Wick franchise has found such success is due to the presentation of its action sequences. From the intricate choreography with highly trained actors to the longer takes and wider camera angles, John Wick movies push the envelope. While the Casablanca shootout would have been a standout even without the dogs, the dogs are seamlessly incorporated into the larger skirmish, working as an extension of Sofia to incapacitate enemies with ferocious effectiveness.

In addition to the dog stunts themselves being impressive, the scene also serves as a high point of the franchise’s interest in canines. The inciting incident in the first John Wick is criminals killing Wick’s dog, and the animals have appeared in every subsequent installment. John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is the first movie to incorporate dogs directly into the action, however, something that is further explored in the fourth film with Tracker (Shamier Anderson) and his canine companion.

Source: Insider