Movie Review: John Wick

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch (both in directorial debut) bring down the wrath of the mystery man, John Wick.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves, The Replacements) is a retired hit man for the Russian mob.  He was happily married, but his wife died of cancer.  All he has left is his car and his new dog.  A couple of thugs take both of those from him and that's what lights the fuse.  One of the thugs ends up being the son of his former boss, so he takes up vengeance on the whole mob in spectacular fashion.  That's it in a nutshell.  You want plot/story/character development, then go home, this is not the movie for you.  You want some kick-ass action and amazing close range gun fights, then stick around.

The story is pretty ridiculous if you think about it too hard.  It is sheer coincidence that the mob boss's son goes after Wick's car.  Later he finds out that everyone and their mother knows who Wick is, and not to mess with him.  Growing up with Wick's boss, how did he not have a flippin' clue?  Wick just wants the son, but of course he's got to go through the entire mob to get to him.  There is even a contract put out on him to keep him away.  The son is kind of a douche, so obviously they all take the contract for the money, not necessarily to protect the kid, right?  The mob in this film is kind of a secret society.  Luckily Wick kept a stash of their secret gold coins to get into their fun club houses (along with a cache of weapons).  He stays at a hotel called the Continental to find out information.  Remember when you played tag as a kid and you had a home base where you were "safe" and couldn't be tagged?  That's essentially what the Continental was in this film, only with assassins.  Ha, ha....I'm in the Continental, you can't shoot me.  Them's the rules.  Well, someone breaks the rules and even more hell breaks loose than has already broken loose.  You know where it all ends, half the population of New York dead.

I don't want to crap on the film too much, because all that nonsense doesn't mean anything.  Where the movie succeeds, is where it is meant to succeed.....the action.  This is the first time directing for both of the directors, but they each have a long line of films where they did the stunts/stunt coordination, and it shows.  The choreography of some of the fighting was just fantastic to watch.  John Wick uses handguns throughout the film, but it's all close range in the middle of hand to hand fighting.  I found it quite unique and refreshing.  Reeves is no stranger to martial arts, and does a great job.  This is also one of those roles that fits him well.  He plays the straight-faced, no bulls*** killer well.  This is 100% his movie.  (Although, John Leguizamo had a brief part, and they could have used him more in my opinion).  The rest of the characters have no background, and no development, but you just don't care because Reeves is so much fun to watch.  All my complaints about the plot and story kind of go by the wayside a bit also, because once the action starts it doesn't really let up for the remainder of the film.

I think these directors have something going for them in the world of action.  They did a competent job with what little they were give with this script.  They will be two to watch out for in the future of action movies.  Story issues aside, this was a fun ride that's worth a look if you're in for a slick, mindless action film.  The good mostly outweighs the bad.

Rating: ******---- (6 out of 10) [rental]

Memorable Quote:

Viggo: He's not the boogeyman.  He's the guy you'd send to kill the boogeyman.