John Wick 3 is an action extravaganza, says Rashid Irani

Welcome back, John Wick. The stoic super-assassin (Keanu Reeves, back in the signature role) wreaks fresh carnage in the third instalment of the action-heavy franchise.

This time round, the hitman has a $14 million price tag on his head and an army of ruthless bounty hunters on his trail. But no one seems to have warned them that Wick has taken the subtitle quite seriously (Parabellum is Latin for prepared for war).

Expect expert fight choreography — most of it in camera, with little digital enhancement — plenty of slicing and dicing and comic-book-style killing. The body count seems akin to a battlefield’s.

As in the preceding two chapters, the storyline hardly matters because it’s the rip-roaring action set pieces that captivate the viewers’ attention.

Returning director and former stunt performer Chad Stahelski also factors in a couple of cheeky cinematic references, including a glimpse of a past-its-prime movie theatre named Tarkovsky.

The script introduces some new characters, among them Halle Berry as Wick’s friend and fellow assassin, Angelica Huston as a ballet teacher, and the sensational Asia Kate Dillon as the villainous Adjudicator.

Fasten your seatbelts and get set to savour the all-in-good-fun John Wick 3.