Leave it to two stunt directors to finally give us an action movie where the action scenes truly shine.
As I’ve ranted about countless times in these reviews, so many directors today rely on shaky camera, close cropped action scenes to mask the scenes flaws and to use a sense of inertia to trick the viewers into feeling like they are seeing something gripping and brutal. But directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, who have years of experience choreographing fight sequences, give their film countless polished, well-shot action scenes that are a pure joy to watch.
They also do a great job of world building. John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is the silent brooding type of action star, but he inhabits such a colorful world full of eccentric and lively characters that the contrast is perfect. You are fine with Keanu Reeves giving monosyllabic responses when the person he is talking to is Willem Dafoe or Clarke Peters or Ian McShane.
Wisely, the film also uses these other characters to legitimize John Wick. The first third of the film builds a mystique around the character as person after person speaks ominously about how he is not someone to be messed with. And by the time you do find out his backstory, which is told while cutting back and forth with a shot of Keanu taking a sledge hammer to a concrete floor to get to the cache of weapons buried underneath it, you completely buy into the fact that he’s the baddest man in a world of killers.
Of course, he is a bad, bad man who was content to live out his life on the sidelines until a chance encounter with a young, cocky thug who had no idea who he was messing with. Wick retired from a life of crime to settle down with Helen (Bridget Moynahan). And when she got sick and died, he was willing to spend his days sulking in their house with the puppy she bought him as a final gift. But when Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), the son of a Russian mob boss, sees him out one day in his black muscle car, he decides he wants the car for himself and refuses to take no for an answer.
From there, Wick goes on a rampage, taking down anyone who stands between him and Iosef. And when Iosef’s dad Viggo (Michael Nyqvist, doing his best Rade Serbedzija impression) puts a contract on Wick to have him killed, that only enraged him further.
Barring perhaps Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, this may be Keanu Reeves best performance. The character suits him well, at times totally embracing his more recent “Sad Keanu” meme infamy by giving him a ridiculous depression beard and pairing him with an adorable puppy. And when it is time for him to be serious, it’s done in an understated and convincing way that doesn’t seem over the top like Reeves tends to do in films like The Matrix and Speed.
It helps that he is surrounded by such a great cast too. Every single supporting character shines and adds to the rich tapestry of the film. Even the smallest parts, like an elderly criminal who gets called to clean up the bodies, really stand out. There isn’t a wasted role.
And the world Wick inhabits is a rich one with all sorts of rules and codes that govern how the criminal underworld interacts. There is even a secret hotel that functions as a safe haven for criminals, where you can only pay with gold coins and there are countless illicit activities available for the right price.
And the film hits every cliche imaginable, including having the villains catch Wick and inexplicably not put a bullet in his head, even though he’s already mowed down countless men. But it revels in the cliches and presents them with such flare that you don’t mind.
John Wick isn’t going to walk away with an Academy Awards. “Serious” film critics aren’t likely to give it a second thought. But in a world of homogenized action films with no personality and subpar fight scenes, John Wick truly shines. It’s easily one of the best action films I’ve seen in years and it’s one I imagine will be in heavy rotation for me once it hits Blu-ray. So I highly recommend it if you’re into that sort of thing.
Written by Joel Murphy. If you enjoy his reviews, he also writes a weekly pop culture column called Murphy’s Law, which you can find here. You can contact Joel at murphyslaw@hobotrashcan.com.