For me, and probably most people, it has been a long time since we saw a Keanu Reeves film and actually liked it. I enjoyed Henry’s Crime more than others, but Street Kings was the last time I had fun watching one of his films and that came out nearly seven years ago. Thankfully, 2014 saw the streak broken with the directorial debut of stuntman and stunt double Chad Stahelski’s film, John Wick.
John Wick (Reeves) is a former hit man who has been retired from the business for five years. When his wife gets sick and passes, she leaves him with a posthumous gift that arrives and melts John’s heart. She got him a puppy to help his grieving process. When a group of Russian thugs break into John’s house to steal his beloved car, they kill his dog in the process. What these thugs don’t know is that they just screwed with the wrong man and once he recovers from the beating, John comes out of retirement to get his revenge against the thug, who also happens to be the son of his former employer, the head of the local Russian Mob.
John Wick is a badass movie and an even more bad-ass character! If you love revenge films and action thrillers then you have to find a way to watch this movie. The thing about John Wick is that it takes place in the underworld of NYC, everyone is either a professional criminal or a former one, meaning that they have their own code of conduct which everyone understands. It’s this level of professionalism which makes John Wick so fucking great. When someone messes up, everyone understands that there are consequences and no one really questions it even if they think they might get away with their actions. This couldn’t have been truer in the initial build-up of the film, after word about Iosef’s (Alfie Allen) actions gets back to his father, Viggo (Michael Nyqvist), the only word he says in reaction to who his son messed with was “oh.” It’s at that precise moment when ou realize how lethal John Wick is and that Iosef is now on the fast track to his grave.
Reeves’ actual dialogue as John Wick may not be the best, but who cares, this movie is all about the thrilling action and the brutal beat downs we get to witness. It isn’t clear from the beginning just how deadly John Wick is, all you know is that he’s the guy people send in when the skilled hitmen are required to be killed. You think, ok, maybe he’s good with a gun, but John Wick is so much more than that. He’s lethal, resourceful, and has nothing left to lose, a dangerous combination that no one in their right mind should mess with. With regards to the action, there are moments that seem rather slow for some of the hand to hand combat fights. I attribute that to how old Keanu is as well as the “coming out of retirement” aspect for his character, but when he gets warmed up, the tempo increases and your left with your jaw hanging because of some of the crazy cool and creative ways John beats on his foes.
Overall, John Wick is a cool, fun, and exciting film that restores my faith in American made action. It has a very simple premise for a revenge film but gives it a cool twist by making everyone nearly rational and professional, having characters that understand every action has an appropriate reaction. It’s not a perfect movie by any stretch of the imagination but it sure is hell a blast to watch and I’m thankful Stahelski took the time to set-up great action scenes as well as set-up the world which Wick inhabited. It’s been a long time since I’ve watched an American made action flick, that wasn’t a sequel or reboot, where I became infatuated with the badass nature of the main character. Action fans rejoice, we now have another legitimate entry to play the “who would win in a fight?” game, and his name is John Wick.
Review Breakdown
Besides looking wonderful on Blu-ray, the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD combo pack comes with a handful of special features as well:
- “Don’t F*#% with John Wick” featurette
- “Callin in the Cavalry” featurette
- “Destiny of a Collective” featurette
- “Assassin’ Code” featurette
- “Red Circle” featurette
- “NYC Noir” featurette
- Audio commentary with filmmakers Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (blu-ray exclusive)
John Wick will be available on Blu-ray and DVD February 3rd. It’s not available on Digital HD from Summit Entertainment.
Recent Comments