Review of John Wick (2014) by Alex R — 11 Feb 2016

Modern action flick... What comes to mind...? Scott Pilgrim? Batman? ANY one Marvel in the slew of Mavel mania? Mad Max perhaps? Sure. All that is fine and good. But what I'm asking you is what, recently, REALLY had you practicing your block+attack when the credits started rolling? REALLY had you wishing... Wishing you could battle your arch nemesis. Something that had you believing in yourself, believing you had something to fight for, cause the world needed you...

Enter John Wick. Keanu Reeves masterful re-introduction into the action genre, by first time directing duo David Leitch, and Chad Stahelski.

John Wick, a man juuuust beginning to have some semblance of peace over the death of his wife, is not done any favors when a loose-cannon thug, Iosef Tarasov and his homies: break into Johns house, beat him with a baseball bat, kill his dog, and drive off in his favorite 1969 mustang... A classic... It's not long after this, when John wakes in the morning and scrubs his puppy's blood out of the kitchen floor... That something snaps. John is forced by his burning anger and resentment to re-enter into a life he had left behind. As an elite assassin, John steps out of retirement for one last bout of revenge. In this prestigious kingdom of killers and crooks, he is known as Baba Yaga (the Boogeyman) and what doesn't kill him only pisses him off a little bit more. The hunt is on, but as John fishes for revenge, will he be able to escape the bloodshed left in his wake? And more importantly, what demons in this criminal hierarchy might he awaken in the deep dark waters he's beginning to stir up?

It's pure fun and games. Keanu Reeves, in cock-pit of a SU-37, obliterating all sound barriers in the ozone while still maintaining super maneuverability. It's punchy, fast, it's light on it's feet and yet takes puts you through your paces all in it's own time to nail every detail into place. The fighting-style and pacing both are modern, dynamic, and gracefully sleek in design. Perfect for pop-corn. It's a true action film boldly leading the way of genre in the modern era. The simple story feels very intricate due to wonderful world building. The style is so streamlined and distilled that it's really hard not to believe there's not a John Wick comic book series with 10 chapters already floating around somewhere. There's not! I checked. But it IS that good.

My only real complaint here is that for about 10-15 of the 120 minutes, somewhere towards the end, the magical spell cast by the first 30 minutes starts to wear off. And we're stranded, in limbo, for something REAL to happen. It's a minor complaint, but also I feel like an important one. The task of revenge at some point is just hollow resentment. Otherwise, say hello to a very important new franchise, and one I desperately hope can continue to succeed. Keanu Reeves has once again proved that movies need a really cool bad ass to believe in. Hold on to your butts! 4 stars.