John Wick Review

The action films I grew up loving were from the eighties. Roided up beefcakes ratatatting their way through countless baddies. Hugely entertaining nonsense.

They ran their course, with films largely taking onboard lessons from the Bourne series. Lots of action in quick cuts. It looked cool, and relatively realistic, but it didn’t make the most of the talent involved. A bit hollow.

But this film takes a different approach. It’s main character is not muscular. Rather than take a cosmetic cut in a passing glance at vulnerability, he takes a beating. More importantly, the story is set in a world where the details matter. Yes it’s still heightened, and there are some leaps in logic/realism, but it commits to a world and remains consistent in its approach.

John Wick is a man of commitment, focus, and sheer will. Everyone in this world – a world of assassins – fears John Wick. His career is one of hushed tones and reverence. He’s the man you send to kill the Boogeyman! Keanu Reeves, no stranger to an action series, once again manages to be effortlessly cool, perfectly suiting the aura of his character. It won’t take much Googling to see how tasty Reeves is with a gun and a car, and these skills allow the camera to track him and get close, which leads us into another reason this film is awesome.

Camera work and direction. The respect for stunt work and action is clear. You won’t find quick cuts here unless it’s for style as they don’t need to hide anything! Everyone involved loves action and wants to show it off. It’s got style.

I’ll digress for a moment to touch on ammunition. I’m interested in firearms; the design, the engineering, and that they go pew pew. So to see them respected, both in their operation and in how much they fire. It’s not just entertaining, but it adds a pleasingly nerdy wrinkle to proceedings.

Lastly, the world John Wick inhabits feels fully realised. Later films may add more wrinkles, but it’s all here. I can imagine every character continuing on with their lives just off screen. So many studios are chasing universes, to very mixed success. So how does John Wick, which seemingly isn’t chasing a ‘universe’, start things so well? By not making a big fuss about it! There’s a lot shown in passing, with the world naturally showing just what it needs to.

Never was a more deserving bunch of bad guys shot in the face.