John Wick - movie review

John Wick

Plot: An ex-hitman comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen
Directors: Chad Stahelski and David Leitch
Certificate: 15 (strong language, bloody violence)
Runtime: 1hr 41 mins
Release Date: Friday 10th April 2015

Have you ever watched a film and thought, 'Yeah, that was OK. Nothing groundbreaking but entertaining for what it was" only to find that it's being herald as this sensation that everyone has become infatuated with? That's me with John Wick. Please don't get me wrong. This is a good film and I enjoyed my time watching it but I unfortunately don't see this revolutionary action epic that most do.

Only a few actors can successfully have a booming career in Hollywood whilst not being the most talented of actors yet still retaining a good fan-base. Nicolas Cage. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Keanu Reeves is one of those types of actors. However, after the failure of the Matrix sequels, Reeves drifted away from the limelight, making smaller straight to DVD movies in which he decides to have sex. A lot. Let's just say Keanu Reeves in a sex scene is traumatic hilarity. Then John Wick happened and Keanu Reeves came back in full force. Wick is easily Reeve's best role as he doesn't require a great deal of word usage replacing it with a more physical performance, something Keanu is better with. There are a couple moments, when Reeves is exchanging some heated dialogue where I thought "You're giving him too much to do. Reign him in" and sure enough, he went back to looking pissed and shooting people in the head. John Wick is a fascinating character. His story isn't wholly original of a hitman wanting to live a normal life but Keanu is the only actor I can see in this role. He makes it his own and come the phenomenal action set pieces, Reeves is flawless. 

There is, however, one person who outdoes him in his own film and that praise goes to Michael Nyqvist who plays the film's main villain. Nyqvist is formidable, intense and very charismatic all culminating in a great villain who I wish had more to do. He plays the head of this Eastern European gangster mob which Wick had previous ties to before his resignation so both characters have an interesting history which I think the film failed to explain compellingly. What impressed me most about Nyqvist is that he seemed like a figure that many would be afraid of. He wasn't a clichéd gangster, imitating a Marlon Brando type character. Instead, he's gritty, desperate and violent in a modern way. The best part of Nyqvist's performance is his description of Wick as Baba Yaga and the one you send to kill the Boogeyman. I could watch that scene endlessly because it sets up what is to come with brilliant tension. My only minor issue with Nyqvist isn't anything to do with his performance at all. By the end of the film, and you knew this was going to happen, Wick and Viggo have a brutal fist fight, yet Wick really struggles. Obviously, Viggo would have had some martial arts training but Wick has just taken out henchmen who were in their prime, without lifting a finger but seemingly meets his match against a sixty year old man. There's stretching reality and then there's that. As Viggo's son, Alfie Allen took a break from losing his penis in Game Of Thrones and decided to have his balls kicked in for John Wick. Who knows? Maybe he's a sadist? Allen's attempt at an Eastern European accent leaves much to be desired but as the goofy stereotype of the hot-headed son from a wealthy family, Allen does an admirable job. There are also a few characters who turn up that initially, weren't even announced as cast. Willem Dafoe and Ian McShane are prime examples as actors whose appearances surprised me but their inclusion was mostly brief. McShane impresses the most as the owner of The Continental, a hotel where hitmen can stay but never take care of business there. Both are very good in their small respective roles but McShane just had this considerable class and expertise about him that made his character and as for that, his hotel, worthy of its own film.

FACT: Bacon grease was placed on Keanu Reeves' face to attract his dog to jump on him when he wakes up in bed.

The story of John Wick isn't exactly something to be frantically jumping up and down about. The main premise of John Wick is as follows; man's wife dies, man is given dog to remember dead wife, Russian gangsters kill dog, man kills everyone. That's John Wick for you. A basic revenge tale. That being said, having seen this poor dog's death, a dog that is immediately adorable, you absolutely condone this one-man war. You are rooting for these people to die in the most violent way imaginable, simply for killing this puppy. Seeing as it is a slightly formulaic revenge story, John Wick lacks any twists to switch it up a little. As soon as the plot is set in motion, its ending is obvious so don't expect John Wick to redefine what we know as an action movie. Unfortunately, John Wick believes that it is much more than a typical shoot-em-up as it attempts to set up and explain this complex mythology about hitmen across the world. Now, on paper, that sounds incredible because it shows they're attempting to try something new but the inclusion of The Continental and it's rules feel very out of place alongside Wick's revenge story. It basically seems like two different movies mashed into one and with that, you lose a bit of quality from each. I think I would rather have had this initial film be solely focused on Wick avenging his dog and killing and maiming anyone who gets in his way and then right at the very end, throw a big twist that Wick has been called to answer for everything by The Continental and the sequel will build upon the shock we would have experienced at that end. With those changes, John Wick would have maintained some originality and avoid a constant back and forth between two unconnected storylines. To put it simply, I like everything John Wick is offering me but it's way too much to fully take in. Ease onto the brakes, focus up and tell the story you want rather than set everything up for a franchise.

Onto what most of you are curious about; the action. It's exceptional. If there's anything that I cannot agree more with, regarding the praise of John Wick, it's the masterful action sequences. From Wick defending his house from intruders to the iconic nightclub scene that caused my jaw to drop in awe, believe me when I say that you have never seen action like this. It ranks alongside The Raid in regards to brilliantly executed and directed hand to hand combat. John Wick has even begun a entire new martial arts practice of Gun-Fu. Wick is an expert marksman, never missing, and watching it is like someone playing a video game on the hardest difficulty but completing it blindfolded. If I have to be marginally nitpicky, it'd have to be that after the fifth gun and hand-to-hand combat scene, it would have been nice to get some variety in how Wick kills people. Huge congratulations must be given to the directors (previous stuntmen and directors) and the stunt choreographers. On the other hand, the score is not a fortuitous. To put it bluntly, I hated the score all apart from the nightclub scene. In every scene otherwise, it's a complete shambles. Scenes that are needing a heart pumping, guitar based score that sets your pulses racing are swapped out for a techno driven soundtrack that thinks it's being modern, when actually, it's distracting noise that gets on my nerves when I want to be invested in the art of Keanu blowing someone's brains out. Tyler Bates has done fantastic scores in the past so it's perplexing to imagine why this was such a letdown.

Positives; the action, Reeves, Nyqvist and the potential for greatness. Negatives; the score, some of the supporting characters, unoriginal plot and constant attempts to make a franchise rather than tell it's own singular story. It may seem like I had a fair few problems with John Wick but these are easily fixed tweaks. Whilst it is a very good film, I'm still waiting to see the masterpiece others claim it to be.

My Verdict: 6.5/10

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