As a whole, John Wick is a pretty simple movie with a straightforward revenge plot. Wick, once a very successful hit man, is grieving the loss of his wife when he finds out she arranged for a puppy to be delivered on the night of her funeral so that he can still have something to love. Not two days later though, the scummy son of the local crime lord, who has no idea who Wick is mind you, sneaks into Wick's home, beats him to hell, steals his car and then goes and kills his god damned dog.
Mother fucker.
Shit gets real from there, with Wick going on quite the rampage shooting as many people in the face as possible.
Again, this is all pretty straightforward, and some could even argue standard, for an action movie (if shooting people in the face isn't standard for an action movie by now, it certainly should be). But directors David Leitch, Chad Stahelski and writer Derek Kolstad have fun playing with the little details of the movie.
As Wick walks back into his old life, we are given little bits of information here and there as to how this particular world of hit men works, but for the most part it's presented as is. A "take it or leave it" kind of attitude, and I love it.
For example, as Wick digs up his old stash of weapons, included are numerous gold coins. Wick uses them to get into "The Continental", the local hotel that caters specifically to hit men. It's clear that these coins aren't just used for currency, but more of a symbol or gesture, for what exactly we're never told. The movie is filled with little nuggets like this, a history only hinted at if you will, and it makes for a lot of fun.
The cast of this movie is also quite ridiculous. John Leguizamo and Ian McShane pop up for maybe 2 minutes each, but their respective scenes are made that much better simply because it's John Leguizamo and Ian McShane. In fact, the more I think about Leguizamo's scene the more I love it. He shows up early, right after Wick has been robbed. He runs some kind of car stealing racket, and that scum of a son shows up on his door step with Wick's car. Instantly he can tell just how bad shit is going to get, and Leguizamo sells it perfectly.
Then you have Willem Dafoe being awesome as Willem Dafoe does. Lance Reddick and Clarke Peters ( Lt. Daniels and Det. Lester Freamon, you know, from THE WIRE) pop up briefly and it's amazing just because. Alfie Allen, of Game of Thrones fame, stars as the scummy son and he plays scummy really well. From the first moment you see him you kind of just want to see him be shot in the face. SPOILER- you get to see him shot in the face.
I'm gonna take a moment now and brag about Adrienne Palicki. Personally, I know and love her from the Friday Night Lights television show. She was great in it (despite a horrible 2nd season plotline) but outside of that she hasn't really had the best of luck. In John Wick though, she makes the most of her bit part, including a show stopping fight between her and our titular hero. It shows just how great of a screen presence she can be, as well as how great of an action performer she is.
This is the directing debut for Leitch and Stahelski, but if you look at their IMDB pages here and here, it will come as no surprise that the action on display in John Wick is as good as it is. Easy to follow and filled with many, many gunshots to the face. Even in the darkest of settings, the rookie directors make sure you can tell exactly what is happening, not to mention the fact that the action itself is damn exciting.
And of course, this brings us to Keanu. I've always loved Keanu, and always will. I honestly don't think he receives enough credit. Sure, he's not the most versatile, but paired with the right director, the right script, he can be quite effective. As he's aged ( has he?) he seems to have a self awareness now, and he's been making choices that really play to his strengths, and the action genre is most definitely one of his strengths. In short, Keanu kicks fucking ass in this movie. The directors give us numerous shots of Reeves doing his own stunts, both in fight scenes and car chases, and he's a natural. I completely believe that he could destroy me (as I believe most people could), and even better is that Reeves seems to be having just as much fun doing this stuff as the audience is watching him.
Dudes, I really, really love this movie. It's fun, brutal and it features an adorable puppy (that dies *aww* and then gets REVENGED!). Watch John Wick. Watch it, and love it.
