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John Wick (2014)



John Wick (2014)



8/10




Starring
Keanu Reeves
Michael Nyqvist
Alfie Allen


Directed by Chad Stanhelski


Amazing movie and a wonderful beginning to the franchise.

Seeing the preview makes you realize we have another Bryan Mills on our hands. Unlike Taken (2009), where Mills was an all-around good guy who just happened to be pushed too far, John Wick is an all-around bad guy who just wants to be left alone.

The movie boasts excellent and talented choreography that will make you love the character. The gunplay and martial arts are sights to behold. A Facebook group I’m in compared John Wick and Bryan Mills, asking who is more deadly. John got plenty of kudos for his sharpshooting and the sheer determination he showed in hunting down his target—something you have to see to admire.

Keanu Reeves was thrilling to watch, playing a role he seems born for: a quiet man living a quiet life until strange events pull him back in, forcing him to kick ass in ways no one else can match. We saw this in The Matrix (1999) when he played Neo and in Constantine (2005) as the titular John Constantine. Both movies, like this one, are must-watches.

The movie’s direction starts off a bit clichéd at first, with the whole “let’s all fear the wrath of John Wick” theme being overdone in the beginning. But when John suits up and starts delivering justice to those who took the life of his dog (yes, you heard me right—if you haven’t seen this movie, you’ll understand why the massive fear of him was splashed all over our faces early on), the film truly comes alive.

John Wick is a retired hitman who gets pulled back into the life when the son of his former boss kills his dog and steals his car. With the help of a close friend, John wreaks havoc on his former boss’s operations and goes all out to avenge the death of his dog.

In the end, I was energized and thrilled as I sat through the movie, wondering, “In Taken (though I haven’t seen Taken 3 (2015)), Bryan never got his ass handed to him like John did.”

Before I forget: The bad guy was just stupid. Here, I blame the writers. If they wanted to make John unstoppable, fine—but having the bad guy catch him, only to take him to a hideout and try to teach him a lesson before killing him? That was dumb.

Also, the story is simple, almost to a fault—just a straightforward revenge setup that reminded me of a ’90s action movie, which I liked, though some might not. Some side characters are underdeveloped, and the dialogue feels a bit stiff at times. A few action scenes, while well-choreographed, start to feel repetitive. The world-building is intriguing but has no real depth, which I also liked since it leaves us wondering how the assassin underworld really works.

Go see John Wick.

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