ehalcomb: John Wick || Review

I've never been into films that have a heavy action theme. Sure there are the incredibly memorable ones like Die Hard and the ones that can even define a generation such as The Matrix. Both of those films, however, try to go big or go home. They don't worry themselves about the feeling behind a scene. Rather they just want the scene to look good. Feeling is what drives a film like John Wick. Rather than huge explosions or learning Kung Fu in five seconds, the film's main drive is not how the protagonist gets rid of the bad guys but why he does the things that he does. Long story short; John is angry.

John Wick's anger is what fuels the movie. First, his wife dies. Nobody's fault as the audience assumes it boils down to some kind of disease. After his wife's death, Wick (Keanu Reeves) is sent a Basset Hound pup with a letter from his wife. It says that the dog is meant to help John mourn which, at first, is the case. At a gas station one day he meets a group of mafia men who want his beautiful car and, after he says no sale, they break into his house, kill his dog, and steal the car. So John Wick isn't just angry. He's furious and he wants to kill the men who killed his dog and everyone they work with. At first glance it may seem simple and maybe even cliche but the amount of emotion behind his actions seem justified. I shouldn't be rooting for him because he is killing people in cold blood but I am. Without giving away too much, Wick's obsession of revenge does tie into his past with the Mafia and the way the film introduces the Mafia's straight-up fear of Wick is brilliant. Even when cops show up to his house they leave immediately after finding out who's front door they've just stumbled onto. The characters are where this film suffers. It's obvious that they all have backstories and connect with John Wick but because of the runtime of the movie the writers can't go into too much detail. Even the main character, John Wick, almost has a personality. He doesn't smile once in the whole film and even though I know that that's his character I can't connect with him.

The gripes I have with the characters don't matter at all when you look at the film as a whole. John Wick is an incredibly directed action movie - probably the best action movie I've seen. There wasn't a single point in the entire experience where I couldn't tell what was going on. It used a lot of still shots with a lot happening. It reminded me a lot of how Marvel's Daredevil series is directed but even better. Remember that amazing scene in the first episode where Daredevil fights off ten guys in a hallway? That is this entire movie and it looks astounding. Even if one can't enjoy the story or the characters, the choreography and direction of the action is completely worth the watch. I even found myself thoroughly enjoying the soundtrack of John Wick. A lot of it is orchestral mixed with experimental rock and pop which sounds amazing on and off the screen. This film is one of the best sounding and looking that I've seen in a long while.

John Wick is an astoundingly refreshing action film which improves on every front that its predecessors have been remembered for. Though its characters and story aren't the best, the action sequences more than make up for it .

John Wick is refreshing.