Action movies are a tricky task to undertake. It’s easy to make a good action movie, just have Sylvester Stallone/Jean-Claude Van Damme/Arnold schwarzenegger kill a bunch of nameless bad guys with guns/knives/fists/kicks to the face. But to make a great action movie is a challenge; it’s a challenge to make a film that’s enjoyable as a genre film and as a popcorn movie, but still have it be well made enough to cater to people with more advanced tastes. John Wick is a great action movie. It’s a straight, slick shoot ’em up with most of them movie being a near continuous gunfight, but it’s so cleverly written that half the time you’ll be questioning wether or not the movie is taking itself seriously.
John Wick (Keanu Reeves) infiltrates a neon lit nightclub.
John Wick is a love letter to 90’s action movies, so it’s fitting that Keanu Reeves is the star. After a few movies that didn’t quite mesh with audiences (I liked Man of Tai Chi, but 47 Ronin deserved what it got) it’s great to see Keanu return to the kind of role that made him famous in the first place, and he’s perfectly cast as the title character. Wick is a very calm and controlled character, and Reeves brings a good amount of range tin his portrayal. He goes from crushing sadness to total coolness to intense rage throughout the film, and it brings a sense of realness to his character which pervades the whole film. One of the best things about John Wick is it’s tone; It’s never quite completely serious, but it’s never quite completely stupid.
John Wick is wondefully self aware, and its clever almost self parodying tone keeps the movie interesting and entertaining throughout. It’s acted entirely straight, but the writing is excellent and it’s performed with such perfect pacing that at points the characters almost seem aware that they’re in a movie, only to quickly return to taking everything seriously again. The small flashes of seemingly self referential humour make John Wick an excellent time for any avid cinema goer. What makes it great for the action fans and the popcorn crowd? The gunfights.
The gunfights in this movie are nothing short of superb. They’re coreographed masterfully, shot beautifully, and edited cohesively and with impeccable timing. Special attention is payed to headshots and reloads, with Wick consistently making safety shots on downed enemies and reloading his guns and conserving his ammo. The cinematography during the gunfights is perfect, as the camera moves smoothly and follows the action with few cuts. This really helps show off the fight choreography, including Wick’s sweet Judo moves and the nice helping of blood, which has become a rarity in the PG-14 era. The rest of the cast is fantastic, with great performances by Willem Dafoe, John Leguizamo, Lance Reddick, Michael Nyqvist, and Kevin Nash.
If I had to say one bad thing about John Wick, it would probably concern the ending. For a film that has an excellent momentum, the ending is a bit too much of a slowdown from the rest of the film. It feels like a studio ending tacked on to a non studio film. Luckily, the ending doesn’t sour the rest of the film, which remains a fresh and reinvigorating action movie.
Verdict: Slick and stylish, John Wick is a return to form for Keanu Revves and a return to form for the action genre.
9/10
