Release date: 10/24/14
Rating: R
Directed by: David Leitch, Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alfie Allen, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan
Synopsis: "An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him."---IMDb.com
Overall: John Wick is not a complicated movie: notorious hit man receives puppy as a final gift from his recently deceased wife. Group of gangsters kill notorious hit man's puppy and steal his car. Notorious hit man gets mad and digs up his old guns. Notorious hit man gets revenge. Lots of people die.
Don't let its simplicity fool you; John Wick is one hell of an entertaining 'revenge' flick. It's clever (there's a hotel for vacationing hit men with a strict "no business on the premises" rule). It has heart (a puppy! a dead wife!) and witty little pockets of humor but it doesn't shy away from the genre's love of mindless assassin-ing. The film is directed by a former stunt man and it shows. The fight scenes are crisp. They're fluid. They're even kind of beautiful. But despite all of its 'coolness', John Wick embraces a more realistic approach to its action than most movies do nowadays. There's no doubt that Wick is a skilled fighter but he's not perfect. He engages in multiple fights where he's evenly matched or struggles a lot to get the upper hand. He repeatedly gets hit, shot and stabbed. He runs out of bullets and even has to do the unthinkable: reload his gun! Wick leaves a extensive path of destruction in his wake but its rarely gory (there is one especially painful looking knife fight early on though). There's no Sin City style splatter or pizazz; just quick, no nonsense deaths.
John Wick never tries to be something its not. It respects the genre and embraces it with style and grace. With the help of some gorgeous nightclub sets, sweeping views of New York City and a cool, thumping score, John Wick entertains to the fullest extent.
The acting: There is an exquisite ensemble cast here: a smarmy, charismatic crime boss (Michael Nyqvist), a mysterious old partner (Willem Defoe), a delightfully pathetic antagonist (Alfie Allen), a tough as nails rival (Adrianne Palicki) and a wide range of slimy, formidable thugs (and an excellent Dean Winters). But the best part of the film (aside from the puppy) is Keanu Reeves. He's good...Matrix level good. For years, Reeves has (unfairly) been a kind of punching bag for "bad actor" jokes. While his calm, dead pan delivery isn't appropriate for every role, it works wonderfully in John Wick. For the most part, Reeves is effortlessly cool throughout but he gets a chance to show off occasional moments of humor and emotion. The scene where Wick receives the puppy really pulls at the heart strings and Reeves plays it with a surprising amount of depth. Its nice to see Keanu Reeves in top form again.
See it or don't see it: see it!
Grade: A-
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