Renowned killer John ; resigned from his vicious vocation subsequent to wedding the love of his life. Her sudden demise leaves John in profound grieving. At the point when cruel mobster Iosef Tarasov and his hooligans take John's prized car and execute the puppy that was a last blessing from his better half, John releases the callous slaughtering beast within and looks for retaliation.
Yet, for all the film's stylishness and a body count worthy of a small civil war, there's no getting around the fact that stiff, stoic Reeves -- who is capable of a few funny, deadpan lines -- isn't a particularly compelling lead action figure.
John Wick is the platonic ideal of a disposable action movie. It gives you everything you want, nothing you don't, and gets you in and out of the theater.
It's a rare screenplay that can introduce a compelling action character, create an entire world just beneath our own, and entertainingly destroy it from the inside out all in a hundred minutes.
Stahelski and Leitch, both former stunt men, unsurprisingly tackle action sequences with glee... but the quieter scenes are more sophisticated, incorporating a sense of fantasy and visual splendor that almost makes the wafer-thin plot feel fresh.
John Wick feels like action manna for its cleanly designed gun-fu sequences... but the revenge plotting is deeply dopey and we shouldn't have to choose one or the other.
It is a wildly entertaining film, from the action scenes, to the sets, to the soundtrack, and in addition, it will likely be known as the comeback role for Keanu Reeves.
John Wick has a more identifiable ancestry: the chic, sleek and widely imitated South Korean gangster film. The copy is not as effective as the original, but at 101 minutes, it's at least efficient.
John Wick is a slick gangster flick simmering in a suppurating green light, featuring Reeves as a kung-fu assassin pursuing... well, the plot's not really important. What is important is the fact that Reeves is still doing this at 50.
It's not perfect. But it is special, especially for a mid-budget Hollywood action drama, and it has stuck firmly in my mind since that late-night screening last Friday.
