Review of John Wick (2014) by David H — 26 Aug 2015

Despite being one of the most wooden performers of his generation, Keanu Reeves has an amiable dufus quality that seduces me into rooting for him again and again. And so I went to see John Wick hoping that it may have the right Matrix-like balance of action and sentiment to suit his range. But rather than testing his skills, this revenge action/thriller requires nothing more of Reeves than to stride around for 100 minutes bashing, shooting and blowing up baddies.

Reeves plays the titular protagonist: an infamous hitman who retired following the death of his wife. When the spoiled son (Alfie Allen) of a Russian gangster (Michael Nyqvist) breaks into Wick's home, beats him up, kills his puppy and steals his car, Wick is back in business.

Directed by two stuntmen, Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, John Wick does not disappoint in terms of its skilfully choreographed action sequences and if you don't care about plot or character development you'll probably find this a satisfying ride. But, if you're like me and you prefer meatier characters with a side order of dramatic stakes then you'll be wriggling, huffing and annoying the person next to you with your boredom.

The true deficiencies of Derek Kolstad's screenplay are masked by the strength of the film's action sequences. Subplots and support characters are grossly underdeveloped and appearances by Willen Dafoe, John Leguizamo and Adrianne Palicki are totally wasted. The one attempt at offering something fresh - a Manhattan hotel exclusively for the criminal elite - is tonally at odds with the rest of the narrative and comes across as silly rather than witty.

On a brighter note, Keanu looks amazingly fresh for fifty and there's every reason he could still give all those older action heroes (Liam Neeson, Denzel Washington et al) a run for their money. But he has to be savvier about the scripts he chooses. Anyone worth their salt could've read the screenplay of John Wick and picked its considerable shortcomings. Keanu deserves much stronger material than this.

After last year's disastrous 47 Ronin you'd expect his team would've been more careful about his next project. Still, I doubt this recent slip up will significantly damage his esteem. I for one will continue to root for him.