Good not great

Rating: 6/10 (6 August 2019)

I'm all for a revenge bad-ass movie. I like my "hero" flicks where one guy takes on the world. I also like Keanu Reeves. Most people find it easy to bash his acting, and that's fine, but I like the guy because I like who he is off-screen. He's easy for me to root for on-screen.
I was a huge fan of how the movie started. Wick confronts the mobsters at the gas station, and there's tension, but he handles it like a pro. And then of course we are shown the other side of John Wick as he transforms into the hit-man hellbent on revenge. All of this was exciting and had me dialed in.
Maybe I'm putting too much focus on one scene, but I can't seem to shake it. Here is a guy described as a hitman so deadly he takes out three men with a pencil. Here is a guy who wipes out 12 men in Matrix-like fashion when they invade his home. Here is a guy who kills approximately 30-50 people during the movie on his quest to kill one man, the son of a mobster. He is relentless, cold-blooded and unwavering on this mission. A true assassin. Nothing will stop him from completing his goal of murdering the man who killed his dog and, in effect, killed his last remaining tie to his beloved, deceased wife.
So what does John Wick do after mowing down said bodies, finally confronting his ultimate target? He points the gun at him and doesn't shoot. That's what he does. What???
For about 1.5 hours I'm taught and shown this is the world's most ruthless hit-man, and he doesn't shoot the one guy he wants dead. Okay.
He hesitates (absolutely nothing about his character even hints at hesitation to this point in the movie), kills a guy he's pinned to the floor, and then of course raises his gun to kill the son, and now it's a chase scene. From point blank kill to let's continue this movie for another 30 minutes.
Unfortunately, that is my overall take from the film. You can build a character well and then completely defy what the character is all about, just to finish out the movie for whatever reason in a different, more prolonged manner.