John Wick

“Oh”

Rarely has two letters carried so much comedic weight in the world of action films as they do in John Wick. It is the response that is uttered from seasoned gangsters and young upstarts alike upon hearing that they have angered the Boogeyman. Actually it is worse than that. They have essentially pissed off the man they usually send to kill the Boogeyman.

Continuing the trend of recent action films that prove age is truly just a number, John Wick harkens back to that era where one went to an action movie for the violence not the plot. A time prior to the rise of the tough yet sensitive heroes that grace the silver screen today, when men and women of a particular skill set and singular vision kicked, punched, and shot their way to achieving their goals. The titular character in Chad Stahelski’s film is cut from this same cloth. Sure he may sulk around like a wounded puppy mourning the loss of his wife, but beneath the seemingly docile exterior is a hungry pitbull whose cage door is being held together with the flimsiest of threads.

Emotionally devastated by the passing of his wife, retired hitman John Wick (Keanu Reeves) only has the dog she bought him as a parting gift to provide him with solace. After a random encounter at a gas station with some Russian punks, led by cocky Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), leads to his car being stolen and his dog killed, Wick sets out to right the wrong the only way he knows how. The son of notorious gangster Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist), whose empire Wick helped to build, Iosef has no idea the wrath he has unleashed on the family business by carjacking a man he thought was just an average schmuck. Determined to protect his idiot son at all costs, including issuing several high-priced contracts for Wick’s head, Viggo has no choice but to wage war against the one-man wrecking ball.

Taking the John Woo approach to action, in which every sequence plays like a finely orchestrated ballet of bullets, John Wick’s greatest strength is that it plays within the rules it establishes. Stahelski evokes a criminal world where honor among thieves is more important than one’s own kin. A point nicely punctuated by the presence of a hotel run by Winston (Ian McShane) that houses various contract killers passing through the city, but has a strict code against killing within the confines of its walls. There are no allusions of grandeur in John Wick, though the opening twenty minutes flirts with the possibility of something slightly deeper, this is a film all about seeing Wick exact his vengeance on a horde of unsuspecting foes one headshot at a time.

Stahelski’s years working as a stunt coordinator for a number Hollywood blockbusters really pays off in his directorial debut. The energetic action sequences are fluid and often mask the uneven nature of the script. While John Wick is not the type of film one goes into for the gripping plot, the shortcomings in the narrative are hard to ignore. Especially when you considered how underutilized many of the film’s talented supporting cast is – the lack of a true arc for a badass female character like Ms. Perkins (Adrianne Palicki) is one of the most grievous crimes the film commits.

Despite its deficiencies from a story standpoint, it is hard to deny that John Wick is one heck of an entertaining ride. Sure it is nothing more than a series of slickly produced action sequences, but that is exactly what one hopes for in a film like this. There is so much vibrant carnage on display that one can only utter “oh” with giddy, but exhausted, breath by time the final credits begin to roll.

Published by Courtney Small

The founder of Cinema Axis, Courtney is a Rotten Tomatoes approved critic who can frequently be heard discussing film as co-host of Frameline on Radio Regent. Courtney has contributed to several publications including Leonard Maltin, That Shelf, POV Magazine, In the Seats, Black Girl Nerds, and Comix Asylum. He has appeared on ET Canada and Hollywood Suite's Cinema A to Z. Courtney celebrates diversity in cinema as host of the Changing Reels podcast and is a member of the Toronto Film Critics Association, the Online Film Critics Society, and the African American Film Critics Association. He is also a Golden Globes International Voter.

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13 Comments

  1. I’m right with you on this movie. I picked up from the library mostly on a whim. I’d heard a few good things but didn’t expect that much. For that reason, I found a lot to like with the action. It reminded me of a slicker version of the Steven Seagal films from the ’80s and early ’90s. This had better actors and stunts, but the plot was in the same vein.

    1. This is exactly the type of film that guys like Steven Seagal, Jalal Merhi, Billy Blanks, and even Jean-Claude Van Damme would have made in the early 90’s. The quality of acting is far better here though.

  2. This thing really surprised me. A nostalgic trip back to the over-the-top action flicks of the 80’s and early 90’s. It’s very honest about what it wants to be. I liked that.

  4. I liked this one quite a bit. Everyone talks about how good the action is, but few ever talk about why. It’s because we can actually *see* it. The camera isn’t shaking all over the place, trying to cover up the fact that a lazy director has no idea how to compose and shoot an action scene to make it exciting. Instead we get, as you wrote in your last paragraph, scenes that are truly entertaining from a director who knows how to actually film them. The steadycam was used to good advantage in multiple scenes where we get to appreciate the choreography and skill that the John Wick character possesses, especially in many of the driving sequences where we can clearly see that it is Reeves himself doing the driving stunts.

    1. Your point about being able to actually see the action is spot on. Studios have been overusing the shaky cam and quick cuts to the point where they have lost sight of what makes a good action sequence. By seeing every move, it adds a layer of excitement to the film. It makes the view feels as if they are on the journey with John Wick instead of merely watching his greatest hits highlight reel.

  5. Definitely very entertaining and you are right about that moment that they find out who they’re messing with, it’s hilarious.

    1. Those moment work exceptionally well in terms of setting the tone for how bad ass the character of John Wick is. I also loved the scene where the sheepish police officer arrived at Wick’s house afraid to ask too many questions.

  6. I pretty sure I am polar opposite of their targeted demographic ha!..yet I loved this movie. Keanu is perfect when he doesn’t speak to much..and boy does he do well as the action guy here. It was fun, entertaining, great supporting cast, the villains were good (because you know I love my villains – they can make or break a movie!) . I only hope if they make a sequel, they don’t mess it up.

    1. I am right with you regarding villains. Too many directors focus so much on building up the hero that they neglect to create compelling villains. A lackluster villain can ruin an entire film, I don’t care how visually stunning it is, in the blink of an eye.

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