John Wick (2014)

 

Genre: Action/ Thriller

Time: 1h 41mins

Director: Chad Stahelski

Quick Summary: An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters who killed his dog and stole his car.

Not me crying when he got another dog.

As far as action films go, this was okay, I actually enjoyed it for once. It has its flaws don't get me wrong and it's a simple revenge storyline, but it works. Really there isn't much to this aside from fights, some background-setting conversations, and more fights. I'm not sure if this was supposed to be a one-off film because it only briefly mentions things from John's past or doesn't explain much of things when they happen, like the various services he can use we just have to understand he's a well known and liked guy within this "community".

I'll be honest, I don't like Keanu Reeve's acting much. He doesn't act very well and he moves his whole body when he speaks, especially his head and it's really irritating to me. Even in some of the more serious scenes I'd just find it really distracting as he's speaking about his dead wife his head is being thrown forward. I wonder if he's trying to emphasise things more by doing that.

Every single action sequence in this movie is fast-paced, beautifully shot, fluid, and intense, and you never have trouble understanding what's going on. The direction of this film is fantastic, as is the writing. There are no melodramatic soapy storylines - everything is straight and to the point, and the point is to get to the action. Not one moment in this movie is boring. The whole nightclub area part of the film is the main highlight for me as the music and how everything is lit up is flawless. The neon purple with pinks creates such a cool effect.

It is a shame there is no character development at all. This is just a straight-up mindless action film after the first 20 minutes. I don't mind stuff like that, but it can be a little dull because films like this feel the need to be void of colour a lot of the time (thank god for the nightclub scene again), and this is no exception. Everything is dark and gritty looking, which works for this, but I do lose my attention a little bit. Another thing is, I found it very strange that this would just have fights without music sometimes so you would just be left with the sounds of people fighting, which is alright in small bursts but not for whole fight scenes.

Personally, I think this should have been a stand-alone film. The simple revenge storyline works and is tied up neatly by the end. A brief mention of something I found fun is the stories you would hear from other characters about John, how he killed 3 people with just a pencil, or how he is essentially the boogeyman. No explanation for them, just hearing about badass moments and why they are terrified of him by name. 

7/10

"When Helen died, I lost everything. Until that dog arrived on my doorstep... A final gift from my wife... In that moment, I received some semblance of hope... an opportunity to grieve unalone... And your son... took that from me."

"Marcus: You look terrible.

John Wick: No, I look retired."