Hard Hitting Action

Rating: 8/10 (27 February 2015)

Whether or not you are going to enjoy this movie depends entirely on what it is you hope to get out of it. I fear for many it has been over-hyped, or just the high rating on the page leads folks to expect more than the movie is actually trying to sell. What it's selling is extremely well done action, and if you're content with just that then it will deliver in spades.
Keanu Reeves plays the retired super-hit-man John Wick. He's pulled back into the world he left behind when the arrogant and ignorant son of a mob boss roughs him up for kicks (it's a little more personal than that, but I don't want to spoil it.) This sends John on a rampage through an underground world of mafia figures and hired killers. It really is that simple.
While the plot is as bare bones as it gets, there's a surprisingly deep world being built. It's a world in which there is a hotel specifically set up for hired killers to whole up in while they're on the job. It's a world where a body clean up crew is just a phone call away. It's a stylized world to be sure, but it's an intriguing one as well. It also helps that it's populated by some recognizable faces. Just the casting of folks like Ian McShane, Willem Dafoe, and John Leguizamo turns what are fairly thin characters into something that works. Many of the actors bring a certain caliber just by their presence that makes this world work.
But really, you're here for the action. And it's stellar. Firstly there are wonderfully long takes, no rapid cut trickery here. You know exactly what's going on and where everything is. And I personally LOVE the fighting style that John uses. While he appears to be a decent shot, his tactic is to get in close and then pump his target full of bullets. It's actually been a long standing pet peeve of mine that in so many action movies, the bad guys (especially henchmen) go down with a single bullet to some unspecified part of the body. John Wick is a professional, and he takes no chances. Even one of the innumerable body guards is going to get three shots to the gut and two to the head, just so John can be certain that he doesn't have to deal with that person again. It's fast, it's efficient and it's thrilling.
The film loses a little big of steam towards the end. The natural climax of the film happens with about 20 minutes left to go, and the final action scene isn't as thrilling or as poignant as it wants to be. That said it's not a deal breaker, and the action scenes that come before the climax more than make it worth going through the slightly weaker ending.