A new action character to follow

Rating: 8/10 (15 January 2015)

In his directorial debut (sort of- it's a collaborative effort) Chad Stahelski shows his skills. He had the experience for just this sort of action movie and delivered the goods.
The script contained just the right amount of background play to set in motion the Taken, Rambo style 'you picked the wrong guy to f@ck with' adventure. Wick is a retired legendary hit man whose love for a good woman had rescued him from the dark side, that is until the dumb- ass son of a Russian mobster robbed his car and killed the only reminder of Wick's cherished wife.
After 47 Ronin, I was eager to see Keanu in this type of adventure. Now admittedly the cast of this movie with the likes of Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki, John Leguizamo and Ian McShane gives it panache if I may say so.
The only lovable character was the puppy, a gift from his late wife, received the day of the funeral. As another IMDb reviewer said, if someone killed my puppy under such circumstances... I'd go Boogeyman too; but who has skills like Wick.
There is much collateral damage in this movie and the body-count is in the neighbourhood of 80 (78 according to one source and 84, another).
On the downside, I thought Wick's resilience to gunshot wounds and knife injuries (one self inflicted, but that's complicated to explain) was a bit of a stretch.
Saw several good action movies in 2014 and this late October one was entertaining, if of course you like the genre; I like most all genres.
On a final note: Avoid hotels by the name of 'Continental'!