Review of John Wick (2014) by Vignesh V — 16 Aug 2015

I mean, what more can you really ask for from an action movie? The direction is great, keeping all the action visible instead of jumpy or unintelligible. The script is great, with all these kooky ideas to build the John Wick world, like the little coins that serve as assassins' currency, the hotel and club hangouts for assassins, and the complete nonchalance of all the assassins and their associates towards death and destruction. And there's the cast, which is also perfectly chosen, especially Michael Nyqvist as Viggo.

With all the talent here, it seems like almost any movie they make could be good. The first portion of this one, before any violence even happens, is already really good, with sensitive direction and a nice quiet, patient progression of story with the arrival of John's dog and his grief (aided by silent snapshot flashbacks) over the death of his wife. Keanu Reeves seems to be the kind of actor who isn't bad at expressing real emotion when the story demands it of him (when he's grieving his wife, or when he's full of silent fury throughout most of the movie) but generally fails to read normal, neutral lines well. His way of speaking is pretty stilted when he's just having a conversation with someone, but most of John Wick plays to his strengths, giving him some awesome stunts to work with and not a lot of complex discussion. After his nice scenes of grief at the beginning, Reeves has about three emotions to show throughout the movie. The first is quiet anger, which he conveys well, a hardened expression on his face as he makes calculated acts of violence. The second is a more extreme form of fury, like when he screams at Viggo about how his son killed his dog. That's the kind of campy, over-the-top anger that feels right at home in this movie of glorious violence and vengeance, not full of serious pathos, but passionate, funny, and badass nonetheless. The third is a sort of nonchalance mixed with a touch of befuddlement, as when he calmly addresses the cop at his door. Befuddlement isn't exactly the right word, because John isn't genuinely confused, but he has this kind of look throughout the movie when he knows that in any normal human interaction, the copious amount of bloodshed would be something worth commenting on. But in this weird world of assassins, it's just normal. Anyways, my point is that Keanu Reeves was right for the role.

A powerful indicator of a good action movie is when you're watching an action scene and you're just grinning because of how giddy you are, how much excitement the action fills you with. As someone interested in film, I've tried to think of certain things about each genre that makes a certain film an outstanding example; in comedy, of course, you laugh a lot, and in horror, you get scared, whatever type of comedy or horror it is. It's too simplistic to say that action aims for fun, because movies of all genres can aim for fun. I think it's more accurate to say that action movies aim for this sort of giddiness, this simple ecstasy from seeing complex choreography and brisk, quick editing and, yeah, it must be said, awesome violence. There's something that can just fill you with glee as you see a guy spin around and shoot guys, with gruesome sprays of blood erupting from their bodies. And yeah, some of the best violence in movies is restrained, especially in atmospheric thrillers, but often the best action movies go gloriously over-the-top in the best, most satisfying way. That's how I felt as I watched that club scene. The choreography was great, and the lights flashing in the background made it all look beautiful and even more giddiness-inducing. It was like the club scene from Collateral (a scene I adored) but stretched out with even better cinematography.

There's only two real flaws I can think of in the movie, and neither really bothered me much. The first is that no one ever really stands any chance against John. Thanks to the story taking place in an assassin haven, the police are never an issue, and none of the bad guys really ever pose a threat to John. He kills everyone easily, and the joy of the movie comes not from seeing John's life repeatedly threatened, but from seeing him effortlessly get the vengeance he wanted to. All John's weakness is shown right at the beginning, when he's grieving and when he gets beat up, but after that, it's a rollercoaster that only goes up for John Wick. When he is finally shot (shown as a flashforward at the beginning in a smart effort to assure us he'll finally meet his match), he staples the wound shut and heads off with his new dog. There's no real conflict, and though I didn't mind that, I suspect that it prevents it from joining the all-time great action movies, which usually feature seriously flawed protagonists on emotional character journeys (like Casino Royale).

The only flaw that bothers me at all is that I was really interested in Adrianne Palicki's character, Perkins, and she's killed on a technicality before she can really reach her potential. I really liked the fight between her and John, and it seems like there's an interesting history there, but the movie never gets into it. It's especially disappointing because there's going to be a sequel, and I would've loved the sequel to take advantage of that potential and develop Perkins and her intriguing relationship to John.

Overall, John Wick joins my list of action movies that are unabashed, gleefully violent fun. The world-building elevates it up to top-tier action status for me.