Review #942: 'John Wick' (2014)

Ever wondered what The Matrix's bullet-stopping Neo (Keanu Reeves) would be like in the real world? He would probably be like John Wick, the eponymous former assassin of co-directors Chad Stahelski and the uncredited David Leitch's refreshing action movie, which puts coherency back into set-pieces and polishes its simplistic premise with buckets of style. There's a key scene in the middle of the movie where Wick sledge-hammers his way through the concrete floor of his basement to reveal a hoard of buried weapons. He is literally digging up his past, and is symbolic of the films refusal to have its protagonist brood over heavy themes and its willingness to simply let him get down to business.

That business, unfortunately for a gang of Russian mobsters, is of a highly skilled assassin. Mourning the recent death of the woman he left his life of crime behind for, John Wick receives a puppy, who his wife arranged to be sent to him upon her death, At a gas station, the cocky Iosef (Alfie Allen) - the son of a mob boss - spots Wick's '69 Mustang, and when Wick refuses to sell, Iosef and his cronies break into his house, kill his dog, and leave him battered and bloodied. Iosef's father Viggo (Michael Nyqvist) finds out and begins to contemplate the inevitable - Wick's warpath of revenge and the death of his son. Taking residence at a hotel that caters for men of his ilk, Wick finds himself waste-deep in the life he thought he had left behind.

There's a lot of joy to be had with the boldness of John Wick. Operatic, overblown and featuring a scene of Viggo muttering a tale of the boogeyman to himself in a room lit by a roaring fireplace, it transcends its straight-to-DVD plot with some outlandish and truly thrilling set-pieces. Free of shaky-cam and rapid editing, Wick shoots, stabs and strangles his way through an endless Russian hoard, and allows a flowing camera to capture his ass-kickery. Reeves is at his best when he says little, and he's virtually silent here, delivering a performance of endearing sullenness. It is by no means a great film - it's hampered by genre conventions and a wafer-thin plot - but you certainly get what you came in for.


Directed by: Chad Stahelski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, Ian McShane
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie