People Keep Asking If I'm Back. Yeah, I'm Thinking I'm Back.

Rating: 9/10 (28 October 2014)

Keanu Reeves is back and better than ever. After a long drought on bad quality films, Reeves aimed to get back into the good graces of audiences by making this completely over the top action film. While the story is pretty generic, the action and the directing is simply top notch. If you want intense action scenes that are simply amazing R rated fun, mixed in with some fabulous acting, then you are looking in the right direction. This is my review of John Wick.
The film was written by Derek Kolstad and this is only his third writing credit. His prior two movies were both direct to home video action films. I have watched both of those movies he wrote(One in the Chamber and The Package). Having already watched some of his efforts in the past, I knew story wise this wasn't going to be perfect. However, the story is good cheesy fun. Reeves character(John Wick) has a tough life with the recent passing of his wife. She leaves him this sweet little dog as a gift to remember her to grieve with someone. One afternoon Wick is at a gas station and these thugs start up a conversation about his sweet 1969 Ford Mustang. The one thug ask Wick how much he wants for the car, only to reply that it is not for sale. They of course aren't happy, so they break into his house at night to kill the dog and rough him up. They of course have no idea who this person at the gas station was. This starts the chain of events that leads Wick back into the game. While the underlying story is cheesy, it is sweet fun for this genre of films. While Kolstad's effort won't net him any awards, it should make his name more popular as the characters and the set up for the action is simply amazing. I give his effort on this film a big thumbs up.
The film was directed by David Leitch and Chad Stahelski. Neither of these two have ever directed a film before. They have both worked as stunt coordinators. Reading into that before you go see the movie could sound some alarms, but they shot this film perfectly in my opinion. The action scenes are fast and very intense. The hand to hand combat is stellar work, and with no shaky cam action, the audience can really savor each moment in the bigger action scenes. While there is some downtime in the film, the acting plugs those holes. Keanu Reeves headlines a fabulous cast that also includes Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, and Ian McShane. The acting as I just said was top level in this film. Having so many acting legends in this one film is great because action movies do have downtime where characters need to drive the film. While there is some downtime earlier in the film, the amazing acting more than makes up for it. The first outing for these two is none other than something perfectly done. This is a fun action film that hardcore fans of the genre will love to watch. The R rating also helps as there is a great deal of blood and other over the top moments that you can't get away with on a PG-13 film. This was a fantastic effort and I cannot wait to see their projects in the future.
Joel J. Richard scored the film with some original music from Tyler Bates. Both have worked on bigger action films, so they know how to add a great deal of depth to a score. I really enjoy the score in this film. The bigger action scenes have some great pieces as the action is moving along. There is never really a moment when I was underwhelmed by the score. I love a great score and this is certainly one of the better scores from 2014. Both Richard and Bates get a big thumbs up in my opinion.
Overall, this is one thrilling joy ride. The action is fast paced, with some downtime that fills in perfectly with some great acting. The actions scenes are shot perfectly and the hand to hand combat is very intense. My only real complaint is some of the downtime tends to drag on a bit, but it doesn't hurt the film all that much. Fans of the 1980s action genre will love this film. Those on the fence, well jump on over. This is a great film to see and it is worth every penny.
I also want to talk about the IMAX version as that is the version I watched. The IMAX version adds a tremendous amount of quality sounds, which in turn adds to the fantastic score. The picture level of course is certainly not there as the film was not shot using IMAX cameras. If you can view the IMAX version on a discount showing that would be the best bet. Otherwise, I don't really think it was worth the extra price of admittance.
9/10