Fantastic Fest 2014: JOHN WICK – The Review

Give me a great car chase, throw in a cool shoot-out, and sprinkle in a little blood and violence, and you have a decent B-movie that will appeal to most audiences and not bore this particular genre-loving critic. That’s more or less what I expected going into JOHN WICK. I knew that director Chad Stahelski was likely going to deliver some decent stunts in the action department, especially given his past experience working on THE MATRIX TRILOGY. But how he would fare with the rest of the film had me initially concerned. Let me just say that it didn’t take long for those concerns to subside. JOHN WICK delivers and even might surprise you by not just setting its sights as just an adequate action film. In fact, this is easily one of the best action films of the year and a call to arms for action fans to take note of this promising new director.

John Wick (Keanu Reeves) is in a state of mourning. His life has been turned upside down after the last gift from his deceased wife – a cute puppy named Daisy – is killed when a group of young Russian thugs break into his home.  Now it’s war. John dusts off his old retired weapons and re-enters the underground world of assassins and mobsters. It’s still the same world filled with trusted colleagues (Williem Dafoe, Ian McShane) and old enemies (Adrianne Palicki, Michael Nyqvist). All of which fear the name John Wick.

JOHN WICK has enough John Woo visuals to engage action die-hards but with a distinct European sensibility for those looking for more than just rampant bloodshed. Shoot-em-ups can be found each year almost as often as dead bodies pile-up in this film – which the director confirmed in the Q&A was in fact 84. However, it’s not too often that you find one so carefully and meticulously constructed as JOHN WICK. The level of world-building on display is commendable. Neon clubs, exotic bathhouses, and an elite hotel that houses the most feared men and women in this underground crime world, all give JOHN WICK the feel of a giant and exciting game board. More importantly, these locations and the people that occupy them are intriguing enough to warrant a series of films if the producers decide to move forward in that direction (I already have my fingers crossed).

Keanu Reeves isn’t going to convince anyone of his acting abilities through his performance. That may not really be necessary though. Between this film, last year’s 47 RONIN, and the 2013 Fantastic Fest favorite MAN OF TAI CHI, Reeves is finally embracing a B-movie career that works to his strengths. It seems like he’s finally content in knowing his acting limits and plays the “man with no name” gun-slinger type with a quiet and almost zen LE SAMOURAI tone. While he isn’t stretching his acting chops, he at least embodies the somber intensity the role demands. Not to mention, he makes shooting people in the head look really damn good.

My only real complaint is that WICK borders on gun porn at times. Of course bullets fly in excess but that’s honestly to be expected. It’s really the sheer amount of different guns on display and their prominent showcasing in the film that left a slight questionable taste in my mouth. I’m all about the bloody bullet-holes and choreographed “gun-fu” – which is expertly staged – but there’s a fine line between exploitation and advertisement that came to mind while watching all the brandishing of arms.

There’s a calculated and meticulous way to how the character of Wick dispenses of his targets. Likewise the same can be said about the way the film plays out both narratively and visually which feels assured and appropriately deliberate. WICK soars at being both a perfect example of how to construct an exciting action film as well as being a fine example of how style over substance isn’t always a bad thing. If there’s one thing that can certainly be taken from the film, it is that Liam Neeson should step aside… there’s a new vengeful badass in town and his name is John Wick.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5