John Wick [1] (2014) [Blu-ray]
Action | Thriller

Tagline: Don't Set Him Off!

When sadistic young thugs senselessly attack John Wick - a brilliantly lethal ex-assassin - they have no idea that they've just awakened the boogeyman. With New York City as his bullet-riddled playground, Wick embarks on a merciless rampage, hunting down his adversaries with the skill and ruthlessness that made him an underworld legend.

Storyline: John Wick is a mob hit man who, upon falling in love, quits. 5 years later, his wife dies and to make sure he's not alone she arranges for a dog to be brought to him after her death. Later, some men wanting his car break in and beat him up and kill his dog. When he recovers, he sets to get the ones who killed his dog. He learns that the leader is the son of his former employer. And the man wanting to protect his son, tries to take care of Wick but he's still as good as he was. Written by rcs0411@yahoo.com

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman, January 23, 2015 -- The Man with No Name didn't just lack a moniker, he was a walking enigma who was laconic to the point of seeming catatonic, with an abhorrence to divulging anything about his equally mysterious past. In that regard, the character portrayed by a steely eyed, clench jawed Clint Eastwood was an icon of whatever the opposite of existential angst might be. The Man With No Name simply acted (no pun intended), divorced from the exigencies of history or hope for the future. Writer Derek Kolstad and co-directors Chad Stahelski and (an uncredited) David Leitch have made no secret that the Sergio Leone trilogy informed a lot of John Wick, but it's instructive to note that not only does the lead character in this film have a name, he also has a history, something that in turn informs this vicious, relentless account of revenge. The opening scene of the film seems to portend bad news for John Wick (Keanu Reeves), and a quick quasi-montage which follows, while initially a bit discombobulating in terms of figuring out the timeline, gives a brief overview of tragedy having recently visited John's life. John flashes back on a variety of snippets from his romantic life, and it soon enough becomes apparent that his wife Helen (Bridget Moynahan) has recently died. Since it's already apparent that John has some kind of shadowy past, it's interesting that it takes a while for the film to disclose that the wife died not from nefarious activities but from an unnamed disease. At her burial John meets quickly with a mysterious man named Marcus (Willem Dafoe) who seems to share a history of some sort with John. Later, back at home, John receives a posthumous present from Helen, a sweet little beagle puppy she had selected for him to help him with his grieving process. The pup, named Daisy, rather quickly works its way into John's tamped down heart, and John is soon tooling around town in his vintage 1969 Mustang with Daisy happily perched in the passenger seat. And that's when all hell breaks loose.

Co-directors Chad Stahelski and David Leitch have long careers in the stunt business, and it's the sheer physicality of John Wick which provides the bulk of the film's breathless quality. The main story is a rather odd casserole of elements, one that is rather pointedly different in several key ways from its supposed Sergio Leone progenitors. John has a name and a past, as has been mentioned, but there are passing attempts to give the character some emotional content as well. Could you ever imagine Clint Eastwood weeping inconsolably in a Man With No Name picture? And yet, that's exactly what John Wick does when he gets the little doggie from his deceased wife. This frankly maudlin attempt to inject something human into an otherwise cartoonish story is questionable at best, but luckily once the film gets into its graphic novel sensibilities, any merely mortal proclivities are left by the wayside, and John Wick turns into a relentless killing machine.

The bad business begins with John and his dog out in the Mustang one day, where he evidently likes to blow off steam by stunt driving at an airfield (in just one of several inadequately explained vignettes). He ends up at a gas station where he has a menacing interchange with Russian gangster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), a kid who fancies John's car and his dog. The fact that John is able to converse with the kid in Russian might be a clue to the kid to leave well enough alone when John tells him neither item is for sale, but there's obviously bad blood here, at least from Iosef's perspective. It's at this point that John Wick tips over into incredulity, for in the kind of "coincidence" that only ever seems to occur courtesy of some screenwriter's fevered imagination, Iosef turns out to be the son of noted mobster Viggo Tarsov (Michael Nyqvist), who just happens to be John's former employer.

When Iosef not only breaks into John's house to steal his car but ends up also killing poor little Rocco (shades of Lilyhammer: Season One), John isn't about to take it lying down. But here's the thing—the film seems to want to say that Iosef couldn't have known about John's connection to his father since their collaboration ended years ago, a plot point that doesn't make sense from a couple of standpoints. Iosef is not that young (early 20s), so certainly should have known who his father's main hitman was, especially since the kid seems so well ensconced in the "family business" otherwise. But even more saliently, the film itself depicts John's divorce from his previous life as a relatively recent happening.

Despite this strain on suspension of disbelief, it's at this point that John Wick kicks into high gear and never looks back. There's little question what's going to happen, kind of like in the Taken films. John, like that franchise's hero, has a "special set of skills" and he similarly simply hunts down his prey and dispatches them, rather viciously most of the time. There's some supposed suspense generated when Viggo places a bounty on John's head and a variety of assassins, including that mysterious Marcus, show up to claim the prize, but the film is essentially one huge set piece built around John marauding his way through a variety of locales and decimating the enemy.

The fight choreography in John Wick is truly breathtaking, albeit agonizing in the extreme in several sequences. There are a number of rather graphic "kill shots" (typically to the head) and of course the requisite amount of bone crunching and other injuries. Reeves moves through the film like a slightly possessed automaton, and the film is actually better when he's not trying to emote, as in that earlier crying scene. While there are some whimsical touches here, like the luxe hotel where assassins can relax, knowing no "business" can be attended to on the premises, John Wick is a rather simple revenge story told without many frills or really that much fuss. The character of Wick has just enough "reality" to ground the film, but ultimately this is an outing built out of fight scenes, interrupted occasionally for some supposed narrative elements. The good news is that the film, like John Wick himself, kicks serious butt when it's not moping about a little thing like a dead wife or dog.

A lot of fans have extolled John Wick's virtues to the point that some may feel underwhelmed by the actual film. There's little doubt that this has provided Keanu Reeves with a career revitalizing return to action, and there's also little doubt that a new franchise has probably been born. That still can't mitigate the fact that John Wick wants to have its butt kicking cake and eat it, too, with a perhaps debatable emphasis on "character" in the early going that is patently contrived and manipulative. Once the film gets into its revenge scenario, though, there's no turning back and John Wick delivers an incredibly visceral experience with some absolutely amazing set pieces. Technical merits here are very strong, the supplemental package is excellent, and John Wick comes Recommended.

Trivia:________

[CSW] -3.6- This is one of the best straight-up-action/revenge flick I've seen in a long time. Action sequences and choreography are stellar, the cuts are long, and the run-and-gun barely stops to let you breathe. The director's background as stuntmen really shines and somehow they managed to mix things up enough that 70+ kills and yet it still rooting for the (anti?) hero. It's has some funny moments, including what has to be the best simple "Oh..." utterance ever filmed. This movie also has something a lot of movie lack nowadays and that's a good villain. You actually understand his situation and like him in a strange way. This is a highly recommended pop-corn flick and if the price comes down I may add it to my collection, especially if it truly is part of a trilogy.
[V4.5-A5.0] MPEG-4 AVC - D-Box 10/10.


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