I see this movie talked about a lot on GAF, but since my movie consumption is at an all time low, I never really sought it out. I was listening to a bit of the Bombcast this week and Dan Ryckert, who has a degree in Film Studies, recommended this film and gave a bizarre summary which can be summarized as "Keanu Reeves goes on a killing spree because someone murdered his dog." I thought surely that is not the premise of the movie.
It is.
This is a film that must have been planned half-ironically between a couple of dudes drinking beer and eating chicken wings.
Dude 1: There should be another movie where Keanu Reeves shoots up everyone, like The Matrix.
Dude 2: Who should be in it?
Dude 1: Well, Willem Dafoe of course. And get someone from Game of Thrones. And Ian McShane, the guy from Deadwood. Oh oh, KEVIN NASH.
Dude 2: Awesome. Now set pieces. Some loud night club... a church... it has to rain at one point, right?
So JOHN WICK's wife dies, I'm going to guess from cancer. He's understandably sad. She has arranged that a puppy be delivered to him so he can love again and not grieve alone. Now this puppy is not a Jack Russel terrier or a schnauzer. This is the most stereotypical cute ass puppy you could imagine. Floppy ears and everything. A calculated decision to justify JOHN WICK's upcoming rampage to the audience.
JOHN WICK also has a 69 Mustang. This is important. He goes to get gas one day and Russian Theon Greyjoy and his pals roll up in a rap car. Theon tries to buy the car from him on the spot, but JOHN WICK refuses. Theon is pissed at this, and is even more shaken after JOHN WICK tells him off in Russian. Now, I'm not Roger Ebert, but I've seen enough movies to know that when someone speaks Russian in a movie not directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, it's for a damn good reason and assuredly reveals their connection to some shady shit. Later that night, Theon and his crew break into JOHN WICK's house, rough him up, steal his car, and someone PUNCHES THE DOG TO DEATH.
Theon tries to sell the car to John Leguizamo. The Pest becomes hesitant when he finds out the car belongs none other to JOHN WICK. Luigi goes as far as even punching Theon, the son of his boss. He knows that JOHN WICK is such a badass that he will literally feel no repercussions from doing this action that would forfeit his life in any other situation. When the Russian Mob Boss Dad hears that Theon stole JOHN WICK's car, the dad even gets his son an ass kicking. This is an interesting twist on the revenge formula as typically the bad guys in these action movies are not scared of the hero at all and are in fact openly bold and arrogant. Not this one. He legit fears this almost semi-mythical embodiment of death. After JOHN WICK finds out who stole his car, this becomes the impetus of JOHN WICK's lead farming fantasia.
Throughout the remaining hour of the film, JOHN WICK proceeds to kill damn near everybody. The action in the film is quick and exciting, with a healthy mix of flippy dippy gunkata shit and brutal brains-coming-out-of-skulls coup de graces He only stops to find out more information or chat with his assassin friends. The film actually has some strange LORE behind it. Although we find out that he was just some mafia hitman, it turns out he is part of some elaborate social construct between assassins. They have hang out spots. A code. They pay for everything in pirate gold. I'm sure there's some comic book that fleshes out more, and if not there should be one.
The film has a lot of energy and does not take itself super seriously. It knows the concept is pretty cliche on the surface and absurd in execution but has fun with it. Perhaps the most ridiculous part of the film is the fight Russian Boss and JOHN WICK have at the end. Right before it happened I thought, "Is grandpa really going to fist fight him?" It happened. The entire movie builds up JOHN WICK as an almost mythical wave of destruction, and we are given no indication that gramps has any fighting ability outside of punching people tied to chairs, yet this guy who has seemingly known him for DECADES and has seen him kill dozens of people in the past twenty four hours, decides to solve everything with a mano y mano battle. I just don't get. I was also not a fan of the sound track which was mostly comprised of buttrock, and they used the killing strangers song too many times.
But it was a fun movie. If you go into the movie wanting Keanu Reeves to play a character that's a mix of Neo, Agent 47, and Duke Togo who murders everybody, it's hard to walk away disappointed. I know they are making JOHN WICK 2, which is kind of odd since I'm not sure who he is supposed to murder. Theon's cousin from Russia? Assassin civil war? Italian mafia? Whoever it is, their fates are sealed.
