Revenge gets wicked, bad-ass and returns in top form

Rating: 9/10 (2 November 2014)

Revenge driven films have always been a top notch example of action and/or horror films, consisting of a storyline where a main character undergoes a dramatic, traumatic and yet sometimes violent ordeal against a person or a group of attackers that leave the victim left for dead and loss of a loved one, only to have survived and is now driven for justice and set on taking down the attackers with vengeance. John Wick is one of those films and not only has that formula but it does give it a fresh take with a well-written script, polished performances and well staged action sequences.
Directed by stunt coordinator Chad Stahelski (alongside David Leitch) in their first directed feature film, they both know how to handle an action flick in terms of direction, pace, realism and quality. They indeed use the best out of the well written script from Derek Kolstad, who ensures that not only is the action present and moving the story along but the character development and pace are taken seriously for the audience to follow and connect. Story goes that John Wick (played by Keanu Reeves, who is indeed back in top form not since Constantine) is a retired hit-man who is grief of his recently deceased wife and is coping with the gift of a dog from her to help John with the pain and loneliness. Whist out for a drive in his 69' Mustang, he comes across Losef (played by Alfie Allen from TV's Game of Thrones) and his mates who offer to buy his precious ride but John declines and sets off his way. But soon after, Losef and co invade his home and brutally beat him, kill his dog and steal his ride. Having survived, John sets out on vengeance on Losef, but when he discovers his background history to his past employer (Michael Nyqvist in bad guy form again), the war between two sides erupts into revenge that only one will live.
The action sequences as mentioned are in top polished presentation, consisting of fast kinetic fist fights and shootouts. The use of practical stunt work is in favor rather than use CGI for the impossible and the results from its director are clear from experience. One of the best sequences of the film is the club house, where John attempts to kill Losef and his protectors by single handily taking them on one-by-one. The character of John in particular is ruthless and deadly throughout the film and Reeves pulls this off with ease, it looks like a mix of the latest James Bond (Daniel Craig), a dash of Jason Bourne from the Bourne films and Bryan Mills from Taken all rolled into the one character. But there is emotion with him, as you see in the first half hour of his fall from peace and again it lacks with most revenge driven films.
The villain is the opposite but the cunningness, determination and will to stop John is indeed there, and the magic of Nyqvist brings this to the screen (he was the main villain in Mission Impossible 4, but he is much used better in this film). The supporting cast includes the talents of William Dafoe, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Adrianne Palicki and Dean Winters to name a few and they all do give the film justice.
John Wick is a surprising return to the 'Revenge' genre and it has indeed suppressed what The Expendables 3 should have been (not to say that it bad) but in terms of story, action, character and presentation it's indeed worth the ticket price to see it and I highly recommend it for action fans of Taken, Faster and Dead Man Down.