John Wick (2014) (English Language)

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Review

101min

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Willem Dafoe…and more

A retired legendary assassin mourning for his dead wife is forced back into action when Russian gangsters take the last thing in the world that he holds dear, as Keanu Reeves stars as ‘John Wick’ in this high-octane all-action revenge thriller from stuntman turned director Chad Stahelski.

Reeves’ and Stahelski’s stunt collaboration goes back all the way to the days of Point Break and it’s clear to see where they met minds for Stahelski’s Directorial debut, clearly ‘John Wick’ is a stylish non-stop all-action flick with a barely existing plot the result of which is a hybrid of ‘Gone in Sixty Seconds’ and ‘Hitman’ (both video game & film), plus a liberal sprinkling of the many examples from Asian cinema which has produced this type of movie far more frequently and effectively over the last 15 years.

No doubt ‘John Wick’ is a stylish and visually impressive if not original piece of work, and despite not looking anywhere near it Keanu Reeves is a 50 year-old man whose physical prowess and stunt-work in the film deserves recognition, it’s clear to see though that through his now extensive film career he can’t seem to manage the “acting” quite as well.

The few moments not taken up by murder and mayhem are spent building up this great myth of John Wick himself as the “bogeyman” that even the baddest of the bad fear, needless to say Reeve’s performance never lives up to the story despite the never ending disposing of people in brutal fashion.

In fact none of the cast come of particularly well in their clichéd roles but to be fair they are poorly served by a wafer-thin predictable storyline full of stereotypical characters, but let’s be honest most people won’t watch ‘John Wick’ for story or character so no doubt this will be a hit with the “first-person shooter” videogame generation.

Had the producers injected some humour and originality to the genre the way that Matthew Vaughn has with ‘Kick-Ass’ & ‘Kingsman’ this might have been a more rounded movie experience, ultimately though ‘John Wick’ is a viscerally entertaining but predictable thriller which is as unmemorable as it is action-packed, roll on the inevitable sequel already announced.

John Wick is released on Friday the 10th of April in the UK.

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