The man in the black jacket is back

Rating: 9/10 (31 October 2016)

JOHN WICK! You will remember that name! Ever since The Matrix left the theaters, people have been wondering if Keanu Reeves would make his return to the action world. After Man of Tai Chi came out last year people were wondering if the man in the black jacket was truly back, well I just came from seeing John Wick and to steal a line from the movie, "ya, I'm thinking' he's back!" You want the story, I'll spin it for you quick. It's been said that you don't mess with a man's car or his dog, well apparently, nobody told that to a young group of Russian mobsters who do so to the grief stricken John Wick. What the mobsters don't know is that although poor John might look like a scruffy nobody, he's actually a badass ex-assassin and his retribution is BA-HA-RUTAL! This is an action movie! like a REAL action movie! Not like those modern soldier/spy action movies. This is a straight up high octane muscle busting John Woo style shoot-em-up action movie! My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE kind of movie! It looks like Keanu is a little miffed that he wasn't called to be part of The Expendables team and in retaliation he made a badass movie of his own! The film is directed by stunt choreographers David Leitch and Chad Stahelski who, believe it or not, used to be stand-ins for Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving on The Matrix. Those two really know what they're doing because the cinematography in John Wick is clear, well shot and beautifully pieced together and the action is fluid, quick, incredibly violent but undeniably stylish and over the top which really makes it a lot of fun to watch. Plus, it exists in this interesting world of hit men and secret clubs and unspoken code that really pulls you in and makes you want to see more of what's REALLY going on behind the scenes. This is helped a lot by the movie's incredible cast which includes Willem Dafoe, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, Lance Reddick and the mayhem guy from the Allstate commercials. It's the most fun I've had watching a "one man one way" movie in a good long while and if you're a fan of movies like Equilibrium or Hard Boiled or really any John Woo film at all, you'll love this! Have a dude's night with the guys you used to watched Jet Li, Steven Segal and Chow Yun-Fat movies with and SEE THIS MOVIE! John Wick gets a 4.5...out of 5.