What can I say about John Wick? Firstly, the fact that it seems to be coming to the end of it's run in our cinemas, despite only having been out 2.5 weeks, is a bit of a travesty. I'm sure that those who make the decisions have some great reason for this. Just like I'm sure there's a reason a lot of people haven't gone to see this film, but I'm not entirely sure what either of these are.
I've been curious about this film since first hearing about it, mostly because the production involved some of the most talented names of the stunt community today and I knew the action scenes would be visually interesting. I also thought it interesting that Keanu felt strongly enough about the film to help back it as one of the executive producers. What's it about?
John Wick is a simple story of sadness, revenge and an ex-hitman coming out of retirement for very personal reasons. One of these is the death of his dog at the hand of some thugs.
No, this is not a spoiler, it's shown in the trailer. For those who may have skipped this film because of that fact, let me put your mind at ease. I was worried about my reaction to that part too but it is, thankfully, short and off camera. It hits home and makes a point, makes you feel, but it's not the excruciating moment it could have been otherwise, in my opinion.
It definitely makes you feel for John, though, and makes you want to cheer him on.
The film has a pretty straight forward plot and there isn't a lot in the way of character development but that's actually okay. This is, in a way, an action film made by action fans, for action fans. First time directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch are stuntmen, through and through. They've been in the business a couple decades each and have worked on some of the biggest name movies in Hollywood. They know what works on film and what looks good. The action shots were clear and free of shaky cam, wide enough to get a good sense of the action and allowed the viewer to follow everything easily without jumping from cut to cut. The fights themselves...well, they just worked. They were fast, brutal and realistic and they didn't seem like rehash of fights scenes you've seen before. A lot of that credit goes to the guys and gals at 87Eleven Action Design, who did the stunt work in the film. This is a group of talented and hard working people who live and breathe stunt work, and it shows in their projects.
For all that John Wick is a pretty simple action flick, it's also got an underlying sense of humor that helps move the story along. It keeps the film from being too morose and dark, gets the viewer cheering even more for John and adds to the entertainment value of the film. I personally found myself snickering quite a few times. Some of that is definitely due to some of the fantastic actors thrown into some of the smallest of parts.
Generally speaking, I found it an entertaining movie. What more can I say? It has 84% on Rotten Tomatoes? I'd probably agree with that. I enjoyed seeing it on the big screen, where it's easy to take everything in, and I'm fairly certain I'll watch it again when it comes out on dvd. If you can catch it before it leaves the cinemas (without breaking the bank) then do it. Take a night and just enjoy some entertaining action.
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