this is what action films long to be...

Rating: 8/10 (12 April 2015)

Retired hit-man? Check. Actor who has lost his way with the public after a successful franchise? Check. Fun, entertaining and utterly badass? Double check. Don't let the trailers fool you into thinking this is in the vein of the bad slew of action films we have had recently with actors like Arnie, Sly Stallone and Liam Neeson trying to get back on form, John Wick actually succeeds in being everything it wants to be and everything its audience wants.. and Keanu Reeves kicks serious ass as the title character. Word of advice.. do not mess with John Wick.
The plot follows John after the tragic death of his wife who leaves him a puppy as a last gift to help him cope with the loss and to make sure he isn't alone. When Russian mobsters try to buy his vintage car and he refuses they get mad and decide to kill his dog. This sets John off on a revenge rampage and brings him out of retirement to take out everyone who took everything from him. As a dog lover this was hard to watch, but seeing Keanu Reeves mow down rows of mobsters will never get old. This film could have easily been like other action films today with a mediocre plot stretched over 2 hours expecting to be loved. It knows what it is from the get go and after a slightly slow opening we are given a treat for action fans and a real guys film (not that women cant also enjoy this). Aside from Keanu Reeves, Willem Defoe is in this film. Recently it feels like Willem Defoe is still being used to throw in to minor roles in films for the sake of it.. but for him it works, so props for that. We recently saw him in both "The Fault in our Stars" and "The Grand Budapest hotel" but in both films whilst he could have been played by almost anyone.. he was significant and great like he was in John Wick. At first he almost felt like Jason Statham in Furious 7, popping up when he was needed to be a threat to the main character (which isn't such a bad thing) but he becomes more than this which was cool to see.
But the show is very much Keanu Reeves own and he knows this. The dialogue was delivered well from him and whereas he was a badass in The Matrix.. in this film he was a million notches above Neo. Every action scene felt like a video game in the best way. The nightclub scene was particularly pulse- pounding and made me feel right in the moment. It is guaranteed that any scene featuring John Wick and a room full of bad guys is going to be beautifully stylised and absolutely absurd. I can see this being a nice, small franchise which could work way better than something like Taken and it would be cool to see John's back-story unravelled. In the end i enjoyed this movie a hell of a lot and for any fan of action movies this is a must see. Keanu has never been better.. Just never mess with his life. If he is anything like John Wick then i feel sorry for anyone that attempts it.