Innovative and breathtaking

Rating: 8/10 (8 May 2017)

John Wick is a groundbreaking film in the action genre.
Keanu Reeves, star of such noted actioners as Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, Something's Gotta Give, and Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, plays the titular character. Wick is a retired hit-man whose wife has recently died. He is given a puppy as a condolence and quickly bonds with the dog, who becomes a frequent passenger in Wick's 1969 Mustang. Tragedy strikes, however, when a group of thugs break into Wick's house and kill the dog after robbing him of his beloved Ford. When I say tragedy strikes, I mean it strikes the thugs. John Wick isn't merely a hit-man; he's a well-trained one. After hooking up with some old (and new) allies from the underworld, Wick sets out to avenge the death of his dog. But he quickly finds that the leader of the gang which attacked him is the spoiled son of a Russian mob boss. Upon hearing this, Wick decides his quest for vengeance will be too risky, and the film ends as he settles down into a quiet life with a new kitten.
Actually, just kidding. Wick embarks on a mad hunt for his dog's killer. In his effort to exact revenge for the killing of his dog, he fells at least a hundred enemies in combat. In a crackling showdown, Wick wordlessly shoots the unarmed kid before walking away wordlessly. Figuring the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Wick pursues the old man and brilliantly fools the gangster into stabbing him. Being that the old man is a hardened Russian gangster, he freezes up after stabbing Wick, giving Reeves a chance to turn the tables after killing a dozen of his henchmen. He gets another dog and everyone is happy.
John Wick is a groundbreaking film in that it eschews the niceties of most modern films, like plot and character. Like a race car stripped of amenities, it jumps straight into the action and never lets up. The scene in which Wick shoots a mob henchman in the head was a standout. The scene in which Wick shoots a mob henchman in the chest was also notably exciting. The scene in which Wick shoots three mob henchmen in the head, chest, and groin was particularly riproaring. One advantage of John Wick is that its action sequences are kept simple and sweet. Films with complex action tend to be boring because they are rather hard to follow. Dialogue is also wisely kept to a minimum. A well-endowed young female assassin is also a clever choice, who also thankfully speaks as little as possible.
Watching John Wick, I was reminded of a much inferior, older film called Die Hard. Wick works for the same reasons Die Hard doesn't. Most of Die Hard revolved around Bruce Willis crawling through air ducts, complaining about his wife, and discussing Westerns over the radio with an overweight police officer. When the action mercifully does occur, it's often burdened by confusing stunts and unnecessary editing. Die Hard is widely regarded as a failure due to its reliance on dialogue and contrived, overly-emotional characters. I saw the film recently on Lifetime with my mother. She was crying when Willis had to drag his feet through broken glass. I, on the other hand, thought it was the most satisfying moment in the entire film. Willis' character (and possibly the actor himself for signing on to this crap) deserved a little bloodletting after spending so much of the movie weeping and failing to kill significant numbers of terrorists. John Wick, on the other hand, would have dispatched the effeminate European terrorists by slapping them and chasing them away. He also would have cheated on his annoying wife with a well-endowed young female assassin—er, secretary. Hopefully we'll be able to see this in the sequel, which was just released recently.