John Wick Review

John Wick is a new action film which is directed by Chad Stahelski and stars Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist,  Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters and Adrianne Palicki. It follows the story of John Wick who is a retired hitman that has just suffered the loss of his wife and is going through the grieving process only to have it all interrupted by some very bad men who steal his car and kill his pet dog, which was a final parting gift from his wife. But the bad men don’t know who they’re messing with…

John Wick was surprisingly good, I didn’t know really what to expect from the film really because I read the basic plot for the film beforehand and was like, ohhh I don’t know about this…. it’s just about killing his dog and then John Wick going out and getting revenge. But actually the dog means quite a lot to John Wick, it was part of  his remaining humanity and was helping him grieve his wife.

On top of this basic plot, the director of this film Chad Stahelski has done a phenomenal job in creating a world for John Wick to exist. It’s such an immersive and original world that it left me very curious about everything that was going on within it. I felt that I quite liked the John Wick setting and tone of this film and when considering that this is Chad Stahelski’s first effort at directing a film, I think it’s quite an achievement.

John Wick has an excellent mixture between some brilliantly executed gun scenes and action sequences and manages somehow to also fit in some humour here and there. I chuckled quite a few times when watching John Wick and during every action scene I was smiling all the way. The film was just so entertaining that I kind of wish it was even longer than the 101 minutes. I’m hoping there might be a sequel for this someday but I’m happy to watch this movie a second time if there isn’t.

When Iosef Tarasov who is played by Alfie Allen strolls in and demands to buy John Wick’s car only to be rejected and then later decides to steal it from John Wick and kill his poor dog, you feel like John Wick should go out and kill this guy. He’s so annoying and he kind of deserves it. The film then slowly builds up John Wick and we get to learn about his past and as he ventures on his journey we witness the world of John Wick which is probably one of the coolest places I’ve seen in any film this year.

This is a movie for those who enjoy watching action films the most, it has everything you need in here if you like those types of films. I found John Wick to be much more enjoyable than The Expendables 3 which was out earlier this year and honestly it’s got much better action sequences. I also thought that they balanced the John Wick character in just the right way because his specialty is with guns, he’s got almost perfect aim so he can get quite a lot of kills. But when it comes to hand to hand combat, he’s good as well, but not so much so that someone couldn’t beat him down, so in that sense I thought the character was great to watch.

Keanu Reeves was probably the best choice the play John Wick as he’s just good at it, from the emotional scenes to the action scenes he delivers every single time and is always awesome. Willem Dafoe who is another of my favourite actors is great to see in this film, although he only has a few scenes. Alfie Allen who some may know as Theon Greyjoy in Game Of Thrones did well with his part, even though he played a really unlikable character I didn’t have any issues with him. Michael Nyqvist who was this mafia boss character of Viggo Tarasov was also entertaining and some of his scenes were quite good, although a bit annoying towards the end.

The ending of this film is probably the only part of it that if I had to be picky with was the only part I didn’t like. As it sort of ends and then keeps going for another section, I don’t want to spoil it but you’ll see when you watch it. But I can kind of overlook that because this isn’t going for something or trying to be a film with a completely solid plot and character development so deep that it would be nominated for an Oscar, it’s an action film focused on entertaining us, and in that sense it delivers perfectly.

I also quite liked the use of subtitles in this movie, some of the keywords are highlighted in them as if it’s a graphic novel or something and it creates a cool tone for the film. In a sense the film could have been interpreted to be completely silly or with the wrong lead actor maybe kind of lame, but somehow everything just comes together well and surprisingly well. I credit the director to this achievement because John Wick just seemed like a well managed film, from the action to the sound editing, the music and the cast.

Overall I really enjoyed my time with John Wick and had a smile on face the whole way through. Keanu Reeves has done very well with his performance in this film as John Wick. The action scenes are excellent, the sound editing is great and the tone of the film is just right. The director has outdone himself with John Wick. I was smiling all the way through this action packed movie and I recommend it to everyone.