JOHN WICK (2014)

 

Genre: Action/Thriller

Running Length: 1:41

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane

Director: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch 

 

JOHN WICK is a straight forward revenge-based movie. Such movies do not have much of a plot. The narrative, just like a video game, is all about following our hero fighting through a series of increasingly difficult bad guys until he meets the Big Boss for a final showdown (usually under the rain because fighting under the rain is just more 'jantan'). It's all about the action scenes and the creative kills. Thankfully, they are delivered in truck loads and in old-school brutality fashion. The shootouts are short but effective and the mano-a-mano fight scenes don't drag on forever. Casting Keanu Reeves as the lead is perfect as Reeves' screen presence has always been his strongest asset (vs his acting range) and the directors really know how to capture that. There are some intentionally amusing scenes to give the film a little breather from being overly action-packed. A special shout-out to the portrayal of the villains as they (especially the Big Boss) are not the usual frothing-at-the-mouth bad guys but are portrayed more as business people (special note: after 25 years, nobody can still come close to Alan Rickman's Hans Gruber baddie). 

Rating: 6/10