A movie of focus, commitment and sheer will.

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2016)

It's a basic gangster revenge movie, where bad men disturb a sleeping bear and live just long enough to regret it. It is also complete fantasy, a New York city where no one who dies has has family, no innocent people get hurt, and super-assassins stay in their own luxury hotel.
The movie makes up its own rules, but it sticks to them: John Wick is destructible, he is not stronger than his enemies but merely faster, more resourceful, and more determined. His weapons run out of bullets, and do not do more damage than those of his opponents ... he just shoots them more accurately. It is not realistic - it isn't supposed to be - but the conflicts are balanced enough that his revenge feels earned.
It is also stylishly shot, the small depth of field technique adds a otherworldliness, that does not distract from the entertainment but does serve I think to distance us enough from the violence that it doesn't feel sickening.
But the best things about the film, what really makes it work, is the tight, focused plot, the minimal-yet-eminently-quotable dialogue, and the commitment of everyone in the cast to make their characters memorable.