Most Excellent

Rating: 7/10 (22 November 2014)

Wow what a great surprise this was. I was told by a friend this was good but it's been awhile since I liked a Keanu movie so I was hesitant to try it. Retired hit-man John Wick (Keanu Reeves) loses his wife to cancer. After her funeral he receives a puppy she left him. A few days later some thugs, led by the son of a Russian gangster John used to work for, break into John's house. They beat him up, take the keys to his beloved car, and kill the puppy. They did this not knowing who he was; they just wanted the car. Now John Wick is out for revenge and the Russian gangster is trying to save his son's life by sending killers after John.
Keanu's great here. Glad to see him doing something watchable again. Willem Dafoe, Alfie Allen, Ian McShane, and Lance Reddick lead a good supporting cast. Michael Nyqvist was made to play villains. Even Adrianne Palicki was good. Oh and hey the beat-up guy from the Allstate commercials is in this. The stuff with the hotel for assassins and the way they all know each other was pretty funny. About the only problem I had with it was the unrealistic scene where the bad guy finally gets the upper hand on the 'hero' and doesn't kill him. This sort of thing is common in movies but it's always unbelievable and reminds me of the old James Bond villains. This is easily the best action movie this year. Possibly the best straight action movie since the first Taken. English-speaking action movies, that is. It doesn't reinvent the genre or anything but it's entertaining.