It’s refreshing to see an action film aimed at mainstream audiences that isn’t a strictly by-the-numbers affair. Movies involving hitmen, mobsters and revenge can be oddly formulaic and ultimately boring if they don’t offer anything unique at all. John Wick is an action movie that doesn’t stick out because of its plot or characters but rather its presentation. I had heard a lot of really good things about this movie and was antsy to check it out after some of the action sequences were compared to the excellent Raid films from director Gareth Evans (if you’ve never heard of them just google “The Raid”). I’m happy to report that I wasn’t let down by John Wick at all. While the story in this movie may not be anything particularly new the way it is framed and how amazing the action is setup excels the movie to a higher level. John Wick is everything you could want in an action picture.
The story in John Wick is relatively simple. After the devastating loss of his wife, John Wick is delivered a pet beagle which he instantly becomes close with. The dog represents the continuation of his marriage and her dying wishes for John to continue living his life. Unfortunately things don’t stop getting hard for him and a tragic event snaps something in John Wick which causes him to go on a violent revenge rampage. We learn that John is an ex-hitman with ties to a powerful Russian gang and that he is probably one of the most deadly men alive. The whole movie has John Wick trying to right a wrong that was done to him and he is thrust back into the world of contract killing that he tried once to get away from. The movie is simple enough to keep you interested and I think the title character in particular has a story arch that stays strong all the way to the end. There wasn’t a moment of down time in the entire film.
One of the great strengths of the story in John Wick is the world it builds. Instead of just having a bunch of tough looking gangsters killing each other this movie presents a seedy, mysterious underworld of killers and gangsters in an interesting way. As John Wick moves along his ultimate goal of revenge we see many of the people he used to work with in this underworld (much of which takes place in a hotel that primarily seems to be a sort of safe haven for contract killers). I thought it was a surprisingly clever way to make a somewhat basic revenge story more interesting to watch. There are more than enough twists and revelations throughout the movie that keeps it moving along. It helps that Keanu Reeves gives his best performance in years and made me fondly recall the Matrix days. I really have very little to complain about how this movie plays out except for perhaps it being a bit predictable.
The real star of John Wick is the action. There is a great blend of shootouts, martial arts and stunt-work that is extremely hard-hitting and surprisingly well choreographed. The movie isn’t edited in too frantically a way so it is always easy to see who is fighting who. Fighting sequences are dazzling as a result and always feel real. As John Wick dodges punches, deflects aimed guns and weaves his ways around set pieces with ferocious speed the tension rises and gives a constant sense of motion and intensity. There is one action scene in a night club that is particularly breathtaking and is actually one of the most entertaining actions scenes I’ve ever seen. When action scenes are done as well as they are in this movie it makes it pretty easy to forgive any narrative shortcomings or shortcuts the movie takes. John Wick is a nearly perfect action movie as a result.
My expectations were proudly met with John Wick. The action scenes are frequent and never too repetitive as well as absolutely dazzling in their visual style. John Wick’s story is a straight forward revenge plot that benefits greatly because of the movie’s style but also benefits from a creative setting and sense of progression. I was never bored during this movie which is refreshing since I often find myself bored in movies like this. By the time the credits started to roll I just wanted more. The title character was explored enough to remain intriguing but left mysterious enough to make me want to return to the movie again and hopefully in a sequel. Action buffs take note. John Wick is everything that a lot of movies should be. It isn’t necessarily dramatically triumphant but does a movie with this much style really need to be?
9/10
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