Dumb but stylish

Rating: 8/10 (17 April 2015)

John Wick, ruthless and frighteningly efficient assassin, retires to live in peace with his wife, a good woman: she dies 4 years later but, as her last act, has a puppy delivered to him so that he has company to grieve with. He is attacked in his own home by thugs, led by the son of his old boss (but who don't know who Wick is), who steal his car and kill the puppy. Wick comes out of retirement in order to exact retribution.
This Keanu Reeves vehicle is devastatingly simple, not to mention being as dumb as a box of rocks (there are at least 3 points where ruthless killers, having been non-stop ruthlessly killing for some little while, fail to ruthlessly kill the very person who they should immediately ruthlessly kill in order to prevent the subsequent bloodbath resulting from the not-ruthlessly killed person resuming their own ruthless killing. And don't get me started on the incredibly accurate shooting except at the person where it is dramatically important that they don't get shot).
But as well as being simple and dumb, it is also extremely stylish, often beautifully photographed, full of well choreographed action sequences, and quite good fun, not to mention being a very good vehicle for Reeves' minimalist, understated style of performance. If you're undemanding as regard illogicalities, plot holes and the like, you may well enjoy it as a straightforward violent action romp.