By Wayne C. Rogers
Directed by Chad Stahelski
I first saw the film, John Wick, starring Keanu Reeves, at the theater when it was originally released. I hadn’t known anything about the movie until the week before when I accidentally saw a trailer for it on television. That sparked my interest. When I went to see the movie, I honestly didn’t know what to expect. Since this Fall season had proven to be a great year for me and seeing movies at the theater (The Expendables 3, The November Man, A Walk Among the Tombstones, The Fury, The Judge, and The Equalizer), I suspected that John Wick might turn out to be the biggest and most badass action thriller of the year.
For me, it certainly was.
Like most of the other titles listed above, I also realized I needed to see the film a second time to see if I still felt the same about the movie. I had discussed the film with another reviewer whose opinion is usually right on the button with movies. He had graded it, however, a star lower than I would have, expressing a problem with the change in attitude near the end with the head of the Russian mafia in New York City, Viggo Tarasov (as played by Michael Nyqvist).
Spoiler Alert!
In other words, to live, the mobster had to be willing to turn over his son (Iosef) to John Wick. It took watching the movie a second time for me to feel comfortable with this change in attitude and to understand why the Russian mobster did it.
As most viewers already know, the movie opens up with the death of Wick’s wife (played by the lovely Bridget Moynahan as Helen) and a few flashbacks to set up why Wick loved her so much. It worked for me. I could certainly emphasize with man when the Russian thugs break into his house, beat him up with a baseball bat, steal his muscle car, but more importantly, kill the puppy dog that was a final gift from his wife to help him with his grieving and to give him something else to love.
Once Viggo realizes that his son (Alfie Allen plays Iosef) did these things to John Wick, he fully understands the nature of his situation and what must be done. He knows there will be no reasoning with John Wick about this, though he does give it the old American effort. That’s when he realizes Wick must be killed. I mean this is the man who used to work for Viggo…the man Viggo sent to kill the Boogeyman. He knows how deadly Wick can be and so sends a dozen well-trained killers to the man’s house. Wick kills them all with either gunshots to the head or hand-to-hand combat. No mercy is shown. That’s the moment in the film when most viewers realize something very special is going on…that Keanu Reeves is back in full battle mode.
John Wick eventually has to take out the entire Russian mob in New York City to get to that one person who instigated it all, and he does it with such proficiency and panache that it nearly takes your breath away.
The fights scenes alone will blow you away as Wick utilizes every move he knows from throat jabs to high kicks to using his knees and elbows to block and attack, not to mention countless take-down tactics. And these are all done with intensity and speed. They don’t look choreographed at all. Handguns are also treated realistically with Wick having to reload his semi-automatic handguns and automatic rifles continuously as he runs out of ammunition. He also has more than one or two handguns on him at any given time, and when he shoots a bad guy, he always ends it with a head shot. It’s usually two to the chest or stomach, and then one to the head. This way, no one gets back up to attack him.
I loved Ms. Perkins (played by Adrianne Palicki), who is just as dangerous as Wick with small arms and hand-to-hand fighting. She’s called in for a high price to take Wick out and very nearly succeeds. She fights him with such skill and relish that I think he spurred her at sometime in the past. Maybe dropping her to marry Helen, and this is her revenge.
Then, there’s the other assassin, Marcus, who’s brilliantly played by Willem Dafoe. You don’t quite understand his motives until the end. This is when you grasp the fact that he sees Wick as kind of a son figure. This is a relationship that Viggo will never have with his own flesh and blood. Marcus is ready to die for John Wick, but Viggo does just the opposite with Iosef, which tells you something about Wick and the person he’s hunting.
There’s also Ian McShane as Winston, the owner of the hotel where Wick stays. McShane brings his character wonderfully to life by underplaying him. It gives his actions and dialogue even more strength, especially when he confronts Ms. Perkins at the end, knowing how deadly she is.
Beautifully filmed, expertly choreographed, this film truly delivers on the action and fight scenes. This is not a thinking man’s movie, but rather one designed to bring Keanu Reeves back with full force to the fans who loved him in the Matrix trilogy.
One major thing you should know about the regular DVD. There are no extras on it, unless you count the previews. No commentary, no deleted scenes, and no behind-the-scenes features. I haven’t seen the Blu-ray edition yet, so I can’t comment on that. I was totally surprised since this is the type of film you’d expect to have a ton of extras on it, especially with regards to the fighting sequences. So, if you buy the regular DVD, be aware of that.
The movie itself is certainly worth the price alone.
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