Review- John Wick (2014)

Directed By: Chad Stahelski, David Leitch

Written By:  Derek Kolstad

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palincki

There is something very displeasing about those lower budget action films such as those that star Steven Seagal, Jean Claude Van Damme, or Chuck Norris. Liam Neeson, who is a terrific actor if given the right material, is also an actor guilty of starring in these movies (although most not nearly as bad). They're usually about a one-man army fighting a gang or evil criminal. They're usually overtly cheesy, full of one liners, ridiculous action, and usually lack tension. The fanbases of these films appreciate them but I never could. So had it not been for the critical success of John Wick, I would have never been interested in watching it.

It's very well presented. If given the same plot to a different group of filmmakers, this movie would probably not have been good. It's about an ex-assassin who goes berserk on a Russian gang because the gang leader's son killed his dog and stole his car. It's a fun concept and I appreciate it for that alone, but it would have been terrible if it wasn't handled so well. They made this movie about a man struggling with the death of his wife, someone who had taken him out of the dangerous and criminal life and about godly justice for terrible crimes. It's all effective.

Certain moments were quite emotional, and I was surprised that Keanu Reeves managed to pull of the performance he did. I love the guy, he seems like a great person and I love to see him in movies, but I don't think he's the best actor. He usually doesn't express emotion very well and his work in Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula goes down as one of the worst performances I've ever seen. This role, however, fit him perfectly. You could tell he was really dedicated to it and liked the character he was playing. The rest of the cast was also quite enjoyable.

Another thing that separates itself from other one-man army films is how it deals with the concept of a nearly unstoppable killer like John Wick. Viggo Tarasov, played by Michael Nyqvist, immediately realizes that his son and his organization are in deep doodoo when he finds out that Wick is after him. He is aware of the danger and basically accepts that the outcome won't be good for him. He's a bad ass who's treated appropriately as a bad ass. He needs help too and he's doesn't feel immortal, so there is still tension. The fact that the fight scenes are simple yet well put together adds to it and makes what is normally schlock background noise into an engaging action flick.

Any complaints I have are minor. I thought the fonts and placement of the subtitles was unnecessary and distracting. I thought that there were a scene in which John Wick explains why the dog means so much to him, and it felt a bit forced because you don't need the character to explain his feelings directly but to show them through his actions and performance (which they did, so the entire line should have been thrown out). I thought there should have been more emphasis as to why Viggo decided to go after Wick despite the way he acted initially. Other than those things, the movie is entertaining.

Nothing about the movie is genius, but it doesn't need to be. It's refreshing for an action film and even more refreshing for the one-man army trope. If you like the action genre I recommend it. It's one of the better ones in the last few years.

7.5/10