![]() Yet through Reeves’ deceptively blank face, we know Wick is killing every henchman in Viggo’s organization because he can’t help himself. And only once does the film give us the unnecessary-but-expected montage of what he’s thinking about - his wife, and the beagle puppy that was her dying gift. ![]() John’s mindset is never outlined in the dialog or a voiceover monolog (one aspect of noir “Wick” doesn’t embrace). Reeves bites off Wick’s lines, all business. When Wick does say something, it’s quotable, but it’s not written to be quotable, as was the case in the Stallone/Schwarzenegger heyday of the Eighties and Nineties. Wordlessly, the actor projects as someone who intellectually knows it’s not a smart move (for the sake of a long lifespan) to seek vengeance on Iosef – since he’s the son of elite crime boss Viggo (Michael Nyqvist). And other characters embellish the characterization with anecdotal statements such as “He killed three men with a f***in’ pencil!” Or even simpler, from the Red Circle’s security room: “He’s here.” Reeves doesn’t have to do much talking, because Wick’s actions speak for themselves. An actor who can be great in one role and terrible in another, he’s perfect here. Just as Stehelski is the perfect choice to direct, Reeves is the ideal choice to play Wick. “Wick” is so well-made in every technical way (also consider the gritty lived-in city, with the night colorfully lit up to suggest the future is coming) that a critic is compelled to say “archetype” more so than “cliché.” His actions speak louder than words Whether the narrative’s familiarity is a perk is debatable, but it’s definitely not a bug. The shaping of a saga: All 12 ‘Halloween’ films, rankedįor the most part, though, “Wick’s” foundation is common action-film stuff. The Continental – replete with bars, a doctor and a weapons cache - adds spice and hints at a richer mythology (Kolstad is surely making it up as he goes, but that’s fine). That’s simply not done, and we eventually find out the manner in which the hotel boss (Ian McShane as Winston) maintains order. We feel a little bad for their naivete, notably in the case of Perkins (Adrianne Palicki), who is so cocky that she accepts a contract to kill Wick inside the Continental. Yet Wick is so scary-good at his job that we absorb some of the villains’ fears. They smoke and speak Russian on top of that. The baddies steal his muscle car and kill his tiny dog while Wick is minding his own business and grieving his late wife. ![]() Wick is a sympathetic protagonist – but only in a binary comparison to the bad guys. ![]() Indeed, before Wick, “Halloween’s” Michael Myers was the film character most often likened to “the Boogeyman” (or “Baba Yaga” in Russian). And so forth.īut Kolstad cleverly unveils Wick like he’s introducing a horror villain. He’s a killing machine more than he’s a man. Wick wants to get out of the game, and he even does for a while, but he gets pulled back in. We’ll eventually learn Wick’s arc is the same as that of any other action icon, with Rambo particularly coming to mind as the war-arena equivalent to Wick’s status in the contract-killing arena. Those moves – particularly shown off in the wonderfully strobe-lit night club sequence, where Wick chases towel-clad Russian villain Iosef (Alfie Allen) – are what is most remembered about “John Wick.” What’s most notable to me on this rewatch, though, is how Kolstad introduces his hero. Stars: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe “Wick” pioneers gun-fu, wherein Reeves’ character wades through swaths of bad guys, doing a lot of hand-to-hand combat and martial-arts moves but finishing most of them with a bullet. Screenwriter Derek Kolstad envisioned an action series that doesn’t merely feature great stunt work, but foregrounds it.Ĭhad Stahelski (who has helmed all four films, but nothing else) turns out to be the perfect choice to direct – not because of any directing background, but rather because of his career as a stuntman. The style is the substanceīut it’s not about the volume of kills – after all, “Hot Shots Part Deux” remains the bloodiest movie ever – it’s about the style in which the bad guys are dispatched. It features 77 kills by the title character (Keanu Reeves) alone, and although that’s the lowest total of the four films, the kill frequency (one every 1:18) ranks second only to “Chapter 2” (2017). Part homage to classic action films, part serious postmodern take, and skillfully dodging the ripoff label, “John Wick” (2014) reinvigorated the genre nine years ago.
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