John Wick

No action movie is complete without a proper villain, and we haven’t seen a more thoroughbred action movie than John Wick in a decade. Unfortunately, its bad guy is a nice, puppy-dog-eyed thrift store uncle. This incomprehensible casting failure is not helped by the direction, which on the one hand wants the audience to be moved by Wick’s wife dying from cancer or his puppy being mercilessly killed, but also tries to entertain with a detached perspective and cynical jokes. This creates a strange emotional mishmash which, however, is rescued from being B-movie absurdity by its cool dark style, great super-brutal action scenes, Keanu Reeves’ spectacular avenger and a few screenwriting ideas that add some refreshing comic-book elements (a hotel for killers). All of this makes me raise my rating to three and half stars. (10/22/2014)

It is rare to see such dirty, unkempt action in an A-budget film, where in the heat of battle, opponents are beaten into a freshly stitched wound and eliminated 95% of the time in the surest way, i.e. by headshot, where cars don't explode upon impact and women fight like women (i.e. not through strength, but by subterfuge), so you don't see them punch and kick hard, which they wouldn't be able to do given their physiognomy, as the vast majority of films in Hollywood today do in terms of gender pseudo-balance. What's more, there's a humorous twist on action movie clichés – the assassins have their own hotel with its own rules, and the unquestionable reason for the carnage is a dead dog. I can understand that, if someone touched my hamster, even John Wick with his arsenal would be in trouble. (01/15/2015)

As my fellow FilmBooster contributor Marigold wrote, the film adaptation of Max Payne should have looked like this. Noir stylisation (neon, rain, night, the big city) with a slightly cheesy pulp atmosphere. The comic-bookishly exaggerated world of Russian mobsters and killers for hire (with such elaborate mythology, I was surprised that the film is not based on a comic-book series). A revenge story stripped to the bone (though not to the such a degree that we wouldn’t understand the protagonist’s motivation). Melodramatic flashbacks are forcibly incorporated into the main storyline and most of the those involved know how things are done in the criminal underworld, so they can get straight to the matter at hand without thinking or talking too much about it. Therefore, neither the protagonist’s simple backstory nor needless words ever draw the flow of the narrative away from the action scenes for long. Thanks to the disciplined camerawork, longer shots and the well-executed editing, the scenes are beautifully well arranged and thus more reminiscent of Asian action (which the director got a taste for thanks to his collaboration with the Wachkowskis) than that of contemporary “realistically” tremulous Hollywood productions. The clean style of shooting the scenes of elimination, with smooth transitions between the individual shots, further resonates with the work of the character John Wick, who is fond of having a clean house and silences most of the bad guys with a bullet to the head just to be sure. Besides the possibility to enjoy the chorographically elegant, precisely rhythmised combination of gunfire and martial arts in all their beauty, the style of the action sequences also serves for the characterisation of the protagonist, for which all of the killing doesn’t otherwise leave much time. Furthermore, we don’t need to know more than the fact that John Wick is a cool killer in order to enjoy the film. Therein lies another parallel with action video games, which do not go much farther in developing their characters (another similarity can be seen in the hotel, which serves as a save-point where the hero can rest and recover from his wounds). The film thematises its video-game nature with a joke built into one of the action scenes, when the fictional worlds of a game and the film intersect. John Wick shows that the effort to oblige gamers (and the associated use of video-game aesthetics) doesn’t have to consist solely in frenetic editing. The film can also be “game-like” due to the emphasis placed on the maximum clarity of the action and the straightforwardness of the narrative, which is not concealed but rather proudly put on display. If The Raid 2 didn’t already have stiff competition in the category of best action film of the year so far, it does now. 80% (10/15/2014)

A couple of points for the action, zero points for the story. The problem is that it has some scenes that are clearly meant to be funny, together with scenes that are mean to be really serious. Unfortunately, the serious moments are so stupid (Keanu cradling his dead dog to the sounds of sad music) that I couldn’t help but laugh. But that stylish action scene in the club is enough to make me like this film and make me willing to give it an above-average rating of six points out of ten. (01/14/2015)

The admirable purity of the genre (the filmmaking enthusiasm is gushing from it) doesn't quite match the script, which doesn't limp in motivations or dialogue (on the contrary, the simplicity is a good thing). Yet, paradoxically, I would have liked to see even more broken arms, and gunshots to the head, and overall I would have actually gone a bit harder in the fanboy exhibition because the great technical aspect encourages it like few other things. A weaker four stars. I'll be happy to watch selected moments again. (02/15/2015)

A proper and straightforward butcher’s job which does not consider anything at all. It simply just acts. And that acting is pretty decent, which is a nice surprise as nobody would expect Keanu Reeves playing this kind of character. Well, never say never. His John Wick was an incredible performance which made me relax, forget about everything, and simply have fun for 101 minutes. (06/05/2015)

Dog breeders are major assholes, especially when the Russian underworld nicknames them Baba Jaga. The screenplay is a surreal jumble from head to toe, although it does contain some pretty cool ideas (unions for hired killers). As a stunt specialist, Chad Stahelski doesn't worry about any of it and deals with what he has to work with. The dog will break your heart, Keanu looks like a reincarnation of Satan from beginning to end, and the characters are not just flat - they have been run over by a steamroller. Fortunately, the truly infernal pensive dialogues, which come off as a compilation of bad comic speech bubbles, are balanced by a fairly decent portion of foresight and even larger portions of action. Here we can see that Chad knows what he's filming (wonderfully rhythmic threshing in a disco club, where the tempo of the fight is combined with changes on the dance floor), and sometimes he even seems to have a solid command of film language (wordless collage in the exhibition, solidly-timed jokes). Unfortunately, in the dialogues, he loses his way and he absolutely fails in escalating the film (both Russian villains are worthless at their core). Here we have a completely absurd story, presented in the style of a dark fateful spectacle with a sufficient portion of foresight and an insufficient portion of self-censorship. Either you will enjoy it to the fullest as action junkies (this is what Max Payne might have been like), or you will get through it with a mixture of amusement and grimaces. At its core, it's actually a terribly dumb mess. (10/14/2014)

Although this is not the arrival of the Savior, but is a small salvation of dying (sub) genre. And that means something, right? And especially if you nostalgically remember the nineties, when an action movie for cinemas was not synonymous with the overflowing CGI animation about rescuing of the world by (meta) guys in T-shirts, but it was a guy's movie with unexcited ugly guys in dirty undershirts, with a gun in their hands and a stinky armpits, which were more about local survival/revenge/threat. And that's exactly the character Max Payne is ... Um, John Wick, who has no superpowers (even though his 100 + 1 headshot can be considered powers), but the ultimate motivation "you Russian bastards, you killed my puppy that my dying wife gave to me and they prevented me from mourning, so now I have to blow your brains out of your heads", which you won't beat, even if you call Mr. Chekhov from the grave to write the characters. It is simply a straightforward B-rate playful action movie of the old-fashioned type that does not suffer from a shaky camera and knows nothing about crazy editing or CGI shit. And thank God it does not take itself seriously (except for the moving introduction). (10/23/2014)

Sorry, but I've already been age 15 a few times for me. John chose the wrong target from the beginning. He should have taken care of the screenwriter, but slowly because for God's sake, just don't kill him when you can torture him! And the torture needs a lot of creativity for that idiot to suffer and live for as long as possible. I'll give it one star for the actors who don't deserve a Boo! rating, but otherwise, I suffered from the very beginning of this film. Do action movies really have to be so stupid?? Overall impression: 20%. (02/27/2017)

Reeves is awesome once again. John Wick is a pure action shootout (strongly inspired by comic book structure) pure and simple. The creators pile on the ingenious ideas and their inventiveness shine through not only in the incredibly simple, but as yet unused plot. A strongly emotional beginning effortlessly introduces the banal, but convincing central motif of revenge, and the killing begins. This bloody ballet is just as pleasing as this year’s Raid 2, but John Wick is a little lighter-hearted and not so sadistic. In essence, this is about the bond between a dog and his master. (11/01/2014)

If the Ragnarock in Max Payne had been visually as attractive as the Continental is here, it would have been a blast. Unfortunately, the weaknesses of the script and the poor casting of the villains cannot be covered up by transparent and clear, albeit not as cool, action and a few enhanced shots (shooting through cars, headshots, krav maga). Watching it in a set with the other parts instantly makes it at least one level better. (10/23/2014)

A gritty, simple action flick starring Keanu Reeves as Baba Jaga. John Wick is, on the whole, entertaining and imaginative, honestly filmed. Comparisons with Gibson's Payback or Neeson's (the first!) Taken, which it does not equal, but mostly comes close. It's a kind of neon modern spaghetti western. (02/18/2016)

This film is almost impossible to rate these days. A ruthless but likeable protagonist out to settle scores, a powerful crime syndicate ranging from a big boss to a young snotty troublemaker, a third person in the background who’s not sure whose side they’re on, and even a meaningful motive, that gives the whole plot concept a certain unmistakable stamp of conviction and empathy; all wrapped in the heady garb of John Woo's 90s action movies and spiced up with modern hyper-stylish action set in the grim colours and original locations of a luxury mafia hotel. Keanu Reeves is fine, but Denzel Washington would have been awesome here, and Michael Nyqvist should only play mafia bosses with a sense of humour and irony who are not afraid to go to their deaths in the pouring rain and with a smile on their lips alongside their former allies. A cool and pure action ride, definitely much better than the boring and wannabe smart Equalizer... 80% (07/09/2015)

That John Wick has a completely primitive plot I consider a plus, because stories like this always come from such basic triggers. I, for one, don't give a damn about world balance, the notion of applying universal justice, or moral dilemmas over the transformations of individuals, but if someone steps on my guinea pig, I'll chase them to the ends of the earth. Almost brilliant from an action point of view at certain moments (the nightclub massacre), at other times at least with above average action or just pleasantly bizarre (this closed world of assassins with its rules feels like a camp game). It's mostly due to the stunt experience of the directors and the hard-working Keanu Reeves, who makes it so this time the action comes not from the editing, but actually from the characters. And the debut of gun-fu (though I think it debuted in Equilibrium a few years earlier) could catch on as a regular feature in my cinematic experience. (02/10/2015)

A pumped action movie that doesn't pretend to be anything. Keanu Reeves is exactly in the role that suits him perfectly - he doesn't talk much, he's not funny, but he simply beats and shoots around him. This is a terrible cliché, but the action is really good and the whole presented world will pull you in so much that you will simply enjoy it from beginning to end. And it really is nothing more than a guy trying to kill as many other, mainly Russian-speaking guys as possible. (01/18/2015)