Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Review of JOHN WICK: Keanu Returns with a Vengeance

November 5, 2014


The career of Keanu Reeves seemed to have taken a nosedive after the huge success of the "Matrix" films. We would be hard put to name even one film after that. Last year, he directed a martial arts film called "Man of Tai Chi", where he played antagonist to a less than charismatic leading man. That did not fly too high, except perhaps for some serious action fans. Reeves began this year auspiciously with "47 Ronin". And now, the buzz for this action film "John Wick" was simply too high to ignore. 

John Wick is a notoriously ruthless hit man, now retired. He is still very depressed about his wife's death from cancer. One day, a group of crazy thugs break into John's house, rough him up and steal his Mustang. However, they made the mistake of destroying his wife's one most precious posthumous gift to him. That final straw sends John on a deadly revenge rampage against this gang, the very gang for which he served years ago.

For their first directorial effort, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, who were the stunt coordinators in the iconic "Matrix" films, make a spectacular debut. Their action sequences were fast-clipped, very exciting and relentlessly brutal. They knew how to make the stunts look good. Be it gunplay, knife-play or martial arts, Keanu Reeves made a perfect action hero. That breathtaking sequence alone when Reeves fought, stabbed and shot his way through a nightclub is already worth the price of admission.

Of course, a lot of this film's success came because of Reeves' excellence in the frenetic action scenes. However, he also connected in those scenes which required him to do some dramatic acting. In this film, we will remember fondly his devotion to his wife, which Reeves was able to project very well without words. He was sincerely moving in those touching scenes which will definitely register especially with his loyal female fans. 

The main antagonist mob boss Viggo Tarasov (yes, Russian again) is played by Michael Nyqvist, the actor who played the lead role of Mikael Blomkvist in the original Swedish "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" films.  "Game of Thrones" fans will relish the rascally presence of Alfie Allen in another crazed role as Viggo's idiotic son Iosef, which was reminiscent of his Theon Greyjoy character in GoT. 

I finally see Adrianne Palicki closer in action as skilled assassin Ms. Perkins. I first heard about this actress when she was cast as Wonder Woman in a failed TV pilot in 2011 (which I did not get to see). She is quite good here in her action scenes. Her final scene is memorably haunting. David Patrick Kelly's clean-up guy character Charlie is an interesting humorous touch. Willem Dafoe and Dean Winters are their old reliable selves here.

The simplistic plot may be ripped off the plots of many other old-fashioned B-action films which still get produced to this day. But the hype for this film is justified. This is a very good action film for those who like non-stop gunfire, bloodshed, fights with an ever-escalating body count. Hardcore fans of action will enjoy the adrenaline rush. More significantly, hopefully this film will mark Keanu Reeves return into the Hollywood A-list where he rightfully belongs. 7/10.


23 comments:

  1. Wow! You review movies which are mostly not popular or maybe I'm just not a big fan of action movies but then again, it's KEANU REEVES! Does this have a love story feel to it as well because of her cancerous wife?

    ReplyDelete
  2. I actually didn't know about the movie until I read your blog... It's been a while since I last watched an action film, so i'll give this a try. :) Thanks for such a detailed review without spoiling anything.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Non stop bloodshed and fights! Not my cup of tea plus the plot seams be nothing different from what we have already seen. It's just difficult to picture Keanu Reeves in any other role than of Neo in Matrix

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll be biased here, 'coz I'm a Keanu Reeves fan:)-- I love him,whatever film he's in,lol. Though I love him more in 47 Ronin than in Man of Tai Chi. Maybe he should act more than directing. I'll definitely watch out for this. Btw- very good movie review!

    JeniG of Kalikotpepot

    ReplyDelete
  6. Extremely excited to see Keanu on the Big Screen! I'll make the effort to see This

    ReplyDelete
  7. Never push a man to the edge. You get more than what you can handle.
    For Keeanu Reeves, it is still pretty difficult to tops Matrix because of the plot itself. No doubt Keeanu is a good actor, but his roles are pretty defined by the genre in sci-fi and hi-action-thrill packed movies.
    He doesn't do well in other genres.
    Hope this helps to catapult his comeback to Hollywood.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I think of Man of Taichi was ok. I watched it and I liked it. Well, there might be a bit of bias there because I like these kinds of films. I like how Keanu is taking more manly roles now - it's like a whole different him post-Matrix. I'm thinking that it may have been difficult for him to have gotten out of the Matrix bubble. It was such a huge success and I guess everyone expects his movies after that to be better than The Matrix.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like a great movie but I haven't heard of it in India. Maybe I will get a DVD :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I didn't know he directed the Man of Taichi! Anyway, I've watched the 47 Ronin and I really love his character and his acting there.

    If there's a chance to see this movie, I'll give it a shot.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love Keanu Reeves, what an awesome actor! Sounds like the kind of film I would like. Fab review, you have made me want to go and watch the film! :) Simone x

    ReplyDelete
  12. Nice to see Keannu back. I remember Adrianne Palicki as Lady Jaye in GI Joe. The movie looks like a nice throwback action movie.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Not sure if I would like this one or not. I have never been a huge fan of Keanu, but I did like Speed, LOL. If this is anything like that it might be a good one..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Speed was a different animal than this. But yes, that film was the first to show that Keanu can do action. That sure was a great film, huh? I want to watch it again now. Haha!

      Delete
  14. I've heard of this movie but I have not watched it yet...maybe soon.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Have you caught Donnie Yen's Kungfu Jungle. That was FANTASTIC and Fabulous! I was so over the moon when Donnie Yen himself shared my review on his official Facebook Page!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly, no. I do not see it being advertised here yet. I do hope they show it here and soon.

      Delete
  16. Keanu Reeves! ♥_♥
    Ohhh.. Aside that I'm soooo into him, this kind of movie is what me and my father likes to watch. I'll tell him about this! :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. One of the humblest actor Keanu Reeves is one of my favorite, and I would love to see this on big screen

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm glad to see Keanu Reeves back in movies again. He did disappear for a while there, but I'm happy this movie is a good one.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Keanu Reeves is a movie legend, too bad he had somehow disappeared from the Hollywood blockbuster movies due to problems in his personal life. Now he comes back with a blast, a great review and a film I must definitely watch!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am not really good with this kind of genre lol.. but it was nice to know about him and his films.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Great revenge movie that captures the final spark in former retired hitman life. The plot isn't so much about complexity as it is emotion. John Wick loses everything and takes down the Russian Mob as revenge.

    ReplyDelete