The fights that don't involve John Wick may be the weakest parts of Parabellum, but there is one big exception — Halle Berry's Sofia. The put-upon, world-weary dog lover from John's shadowy past is given plenty of room to be established as capable and interesting. Her presence allows for not only the series' first co-op fight, but also an opportunity to get her incredible dogs in on the action.
The involvement of the dogs is satisfying for a number of reasons. Not only do the dogfight moments bring the series full circle, at least when it comes to the puppy thing, it's also just a rare treat to watch trained dogs tear into stunt performers with expert precision while human combatants continue to fight around them. It's interspecies choreography of a rarely seen sort, probably because it looks really difficult to execute.
Rather than stealing the spotlight, or feeling shoehorned in, Sofia holds her own as a totally believable equal to John, never succumbing to any kind of Poochie syndrome. This is at least partly helped by the fact that she doesn't overstay her welcome. She greets our hero by shooting him, gripes at him, helps him kill, like 50 people, and leaves him with one final insult by essentially spitting in his face. And then she dips out of the movie, never to be seen again. It somehow all comes off as charming, and leaves you wanting more.
