Review of John Wick (2014) by Morty_Mcflay — 06 Nov 2019

I would give this film about an 8.5, but it gets bumped up to nine for the impact it has had on action cinema. This film came along at a time when action films were suffering deeply and showed them all how it’s done.

The home invasion sequence and the Red Circle shootout are some of the best action sequences of the last decade. But the action of this film isn’t all it has to offer; it goes above and beyond what an action movie is called for by setting up an entire underworld of assassins that.

.. it’s just so cool. The premise is extremely simple yet ruthlessly effective because of its setup, and of course; Keanu. F#cking. Reeves. His dedication to his craft gives these movies a passion that otherwise wouldn’t exist, and he even manages to pull out a decent performances in the quieter moments.

(As much as I love Keanu, his acting ability isn’t what makes him so awesome). Unfortunately, the movie definitely peaks in its first two acts; after John achieves his goal, there isn’t much that tops that intensity.

I mean, Wick takes on entire squads of trained henchman with ruthless efficiency and the final battle of this film is an old, out of shape Russian gangster that manages to get the closest to killing John that anyone has? Yeah, I don’t buy it.

But an underwhelming finale is the only real knock against this film, it’s still an excellent piece of action cinema.