Review of John Wick (2014) by Andrewmakatsari — 05 Jan 2017

JOHN WICK (review) John Wick is one of the best action movies of the year,with an all star cast ,a great world building script,that easily makes this kind of clichéd action movie a fun ride ,with amazing set-pieces,that are supported with superb soundtrack from Tyler Bates.

First of all I must say that the story here,while having a standard revenge story structure,is handled with such equisitely good writing and acting that,you just can’t help but really enjoy it once again,since it uses all of the previously known stereotypes of characters,but constantly finds new ways to surpise you and engross you further into it’s world.

Keanu Reeves,is an actor that I always liked,he is very good in interviews,he loves what he does and respects the work the directors put in(since he too was a director of “man of tai chi”)and still knows how to be in great physical shape for the stunts and fights,but I have to say that he was able to deliver an emmense amount of emotion in this film.

There are scenes here that demand a lot of heart and soul from an actor and it is very pleasing to know that Keanu has handled it so well,it is truly his best performance since the matrix (or “the devil’s advocate”).

All of the supporting cast is fantastic as well,Michael Nyqvist plays a highly charismatic and at times hilarious villain,Alfie Allen plays his **** son,who you want to see get beat up and killed.While other big name actors like Willem Defoe and Adrianne Palicki have smaller yet equally great roles,as Marcus(a skilled sniper and an old friend of John),and Perkins(who is hot as hell,fights like most men can’t and has great hair,loved her.

).The premise itself is both ludicrous and clever,ludicrous for it’s overall resolution,you would think that a guy killing 84 people for a dog and a car would be dumb and downright idiotic,but because of the way Keanu commits to his job and delivered his performance you just can’t help but root for the poor guy.

Meanwhile Derek Kolstad’s script ,establishes the world of John Wick very well,with hotels ,made for hitmen exclusively,that have certain rules,and you get killed for breaking them,the asthetic is mysterious yet very clear and logical and the overall atmosphere and the mood of the story is tonely consistent and very neat.

Not only is John wick extremely well written and delivered,it is also masterfully directed ,by first time director Chad Stahelski and David Leitch(who have enormous amounts of stunt choreography and doubling expereince ,working for some of the best action films in recent memory).

Since I too want to become a director ,I feel hugely inspired,to see such terrific directorial debuts.The action scenes are long ,inventive,slick ,fluid and well-choreographed.It is all directed steadily and confidently,with blood splatter and shell cases firing all directions and Keanu Reeves using the guns as his extensions rather than normal weapons,I was staring in pure awe and wincing at every bloody headshot, John Wick pulled.

And like I said before the music accompanies the action and the fights like some intense orchestra that knows just when to hit to deliver that adrenaline rush of guys beating and shooting the crap out of each other,it may sound primitive,but just wait till you see the “Red Circle”club shootout it is most definitely the best club set-piece I’ve ever seen even better than Tom cruise’s Collateral club scene.

It’s the kind of place were electronic dubstep and rocknroll was used to it’s best and most natural,with gunshots mimicking the rises and falls of the music’s rhythm ,it is a deadly dance,with great dancers ,explicit planning and brilliant orchestra,and while the latter action sequences,kind of fall apart just by a tiny,tiny,tiny bit(yes it was that awesome)it still remains a solidly directed action movie.

I also loved the color palette of this movie,it was very bright neon,mixed with royal white and deep blue,that made the city of NY all the more vivid and exciting to travel though.All in all it was visually stunning.

In conclusion John wick is certainly one of my favorite movies,of the year that uses those precious 96 minutes of runtime to entertain the audience the best it can.It’s brilliance lies in It’s simplicity,it’s complexity lies in it’s choreography and action,and it’s acting performance lies within the grasp of intelligent writing and terrific performance from the main stars, as well as the supporting cast.