Iosef is the spoiled good-for-nothing son of Russian mobster Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist). He wants to buy Wick's Mustang sports car but Wick turns him down. Iosef and his men break into Wick's house, beat him up, kill his dog (a present from his wife), and steal the car.
Iosef doesn't know who Wick is, but his father Viggo does. Wick used to work for Viggo and was his deadliest killer. Viggo knows a shit storm is going to descend on him and his son when Wick comes looking for vengeance. He puts out an open contract on Wick and personally invites Marcus (Willem Dafoe), one of Wicks' friends, to join in the hunt.
***
If Luc Besson, Joss Whedon and Quentin Tarantino made a movie together, what would it look like? It would look like John Wick. This is the movie that Luc Besson tried, and failed, to make with Colombiana.
John Wick is a fantastic, violent, revenge movie that combines the convincing world-building of Luc Besson, the quirky characters (who behave in unexpected but believable ways, especially the bad guys) of Joss Whedon, and the ultra-violence of Tarantino (body-count is 50 to 100):
- There's a posh hotel that caters to criminals. Where no killing is allowed - a demilitarized zone for killers, enforced by the hotel's own assassins.
- Viggo Tarasov telephones a car chop-shop owner and asks him why he hit his son. Because he stole John Wick's car and killed his dog, is the reply. Viggo says Oh, and puts down the phone. This is the kind of creative writing and bad-guy character development that Joss Whedon would be proud of.
- There's an extended series of individual fight in a nightclub/hotel where John Wick single-handedly takes out tens of bad guys. It's like the monster fight scene in Kill Bill Part 1.
John Wick gets a stupendous 9.1/10 viewer rating on IMDB and a 92% critics average on Rotten Tomatoes.
It's written by Derek Kolstad. Derek who? Derek who has written two previous movies: The Package (a Steve Austin and Dolph Lundgren B movie), and One in the Chamber (another Dolph Lundgren B movie with can-you-believe-an-oscar-winner-could-sink-so-low Cuba Gooding Jr.). You know what? I'm feeling like watching B movies right now.
Most revenge movies are just about the action. John Wick manages to create a believable underworld subculture and interesting characters, with short, deft scenes that don't slow down the pacing. And it still manages to out-action most other revenge movies.You want an example of a bad revenge movie? Try The Punisher.
Aside from that, you want a real bad-ass hero. A Rambo that makes you go, Holy cow, who is this guy? John Wick manages to do this by showing Keanu Reeves comprehensively kicking ass.
First-time directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski are experienced stuntmen, with over 70 movie credits each on IMDB. This explains the exceptional fight choreography (IMDB doesn't list a fight choreographer, so the directors must have done it).
John Wick kills 50 to 100 bad guys in the course of the movie and each kill is unique, with some interesting stylistic twist. Unlike Hong Kong movies, the fights don't seem too long because they are beautifully thought out and don't become repetitive.
The Thais (e.g. Ong Bak), Indonesians (e.g. The Raid: Redemption), Koreans (Old Dog? Overrated) and Chinese (including John Woo) do not have this level of moviemaking skill.
With all this, you don't need Keanu Reeves. But guess what? You do have him. And what a Keanu Reeves he is. This is a grittier Constantine, even angrier and more humorless. I'm a huge Keanu Reeves fan and this is one of his best performances. (I do not know why people like to criticize his acting.)
You want more reasons to watch?
- Desperate Housewife Eva Longoria is one of the producers.
- Mila Kunis lookalike Adrianne Palicki has a small role, as a feisty assassin that Joss Whedon would have been proud to have created.
- Keanu Reeves shoots a really bad-ass Kel-Tec KSG 12-gauge shotgun.
- Cinematography by Jonathan Sela (Max Payne, A Good Day to Die Hard). Lighting is good but not exceptional, but that's only because today's standards are so high.
- Theon Greyjoy gets slapped around and killed.
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