A fun, self-aware action movie

Rating: 7/10 (12 April 2015)

SYNOPSIS Retired hit man John Wick forces himself out of retirement to track down and kill gangsters that took away something of unique sentimentality from him.
OVERVIEW I really went into this film with low expectations and thought it would be a schlock inducing mess of mind numbing action and boring dialogue with no emotional draw to the story. It was in a sense, but it was more than that, and feel like at first I was taking it to seriously. Firstly, this movie is a lot of fun. Bar the first ten minutes of the film its a great non-stop action film that delivers on what it can. I thought that concept at first was boring because at least every three months we see some Michael Bay b*******t or just some generic thriller movie we have no interest in seeing. However there was a lot of buzz surrounding this so I thought I gave it a shot.
I think the reason the movie works so well is because the action set pieces are so well done, some of the best I've personally seen in a long time. They're grounded in reality and don't need special effects or loud noises to keep the film flowing, just well executed stunt choreography. II think this is mostly down to the directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski , who've been a stunt coordinators for a majority of their careers (300, V for Vendetta, The Matrix). You take two stunt coordinators who have worked on very stylized movies throughout their time you get that influence rubbing off. That leads me to my next point, even the direction in the slower, dialogue heavy scenes is great. The great lighting down to the strange subtitles gives it a gritty, comic book feel.
PERFORMANCES I feel like their wasn't really stand outs in the movie, everybody did a solid job. If I was to choose Michael Nyqvist as the head antagonist Viggo Tarasov would take the cake, it felt like every scene was in the movie was at its best. Willem Dafoe as hit-man Marcus deserves a mention, specifically the character's final scene with Tarasov. Of course Keanu Reeves did a solid job as the lead, however I do feel you could replace him with any actor and they could have done the job all the same. But it is nice to see Defoe and Reeves re-appearing in a more audience driven blockbuster movie.
NOTEWORTHY MOMENTS The action scenes were incredibly well done, however I do feel one sequence was done so well its the one that got me completely engaged with the film. The nightclub scene was just great, from every perspective. The direction was top-notch with the four levels of the nightclub all having different lighting tones and the non- stop fight choreography blistering through each set. It was performed ideally from both Alfie Allen and Keanu Reeves, as well as all of the stunt cast. It didn't go over the top, and some signature kill moves were highlighted in John Wick's fight style which gave it a sense of authenticity rather than the protagonist turns up and fights people. He has a style and the most effective ways to kill people ad he repeats them several times, it doesn't try to make every death scene spectacular but it packs more of a punch.
I do feel like you could pick any set piece in the movie and say it was your favourite and I could totally understand why. They all are completely different, from a claustrophobic home invasion to a non-stop action maze in a nightclub, to a loud and brash gun fight outside a church, to a car orientated shootout at fishing docks, to an up close and personal one on one fight. Very dynamic, and every scene is different and entertaining.
FINAL VERDICT This movie is nothing like any Liam Neeson cash grab nonsense thats in the cinema right now. It's a great 100-minute movie that celebrates whats fun about action movies. It's grounded in a non-CGI world filled with somewhat cheesy lines and brilliantly choreographed set pieces. It's self aware, it knows that its not trying to be a well-written Oscar-nominated script, its entertaining with good performances, directed really well, and the stunt choreography is some of the best thats been in a movie for a long time.
If you want to enjoy a movie that you don't need to concentrate when watching but it isn't mind numbingly terrible, this is it.