This is a nice movie to see. If you are into the shootin and fightin and more shootin. And some fightin. And just a little more shootin. And some car stuff. And shootin. Solid. Unapologetic. Stylish. And Nice to see a new Action movie that wasn’t based on anything previous. Of course that is the curse, though. I think they just released the 4th one in the series. Will I watch it like I watched part 2 and 3? Fuck yeah, I will, this movie is pretty awesome, for what it is.
Quick and well-done set-up here that gives a good picture and a serious emotional punch. Keanu Reeves does a great job as John Wick, immediately investing you in his character. Having just lost his wife and the delivery of her final gift to him, he by chance gets drawn back into the old world he tried to escape. A life of a hired killer. And a very good one. The best one, even, if the Baba Yaga myth is to be believed. And that really chaps his ass, because he really didn’t want to go back there. Plus, you know, the whole dog thing.
This is not supposed to be a “realistic” kind of film, but they ground it enough in the beginning through blatant emotional manipulation that puts you right into the roller coaster ride that follows. Just enough exposition to get you from one action piece to the next. And there’s a lot of em, and they are extremely well done. Broken arms. Head shots galore. A lot of excellent hand-to-hand combat that ain’t no Power Rangers kinda shit, it’s some tight fightin. You can feel the pain in some of these. Keanu displays a Singular Intent here that makes him a force to be reckoned with. Great secondary characters, including Ian “Swearingen” McShane, Willem “Klaus Daimler” DaFoe, a couple of guys from The Wire and a nice little role by none other than David Patrick Kelly of Commando and The Warriors fame. Come out to play, my friends. And they most certainly do.
