“John Wick” is a greatly gratifying feature of violent reprisal. In the film, Keanu Reeves discharges bullets copious amounts of times, leaving the audience at awe with the raw retaliation that this whole film embodies.
With the sharpness of a surgeon, beauty of a dancer,and the monstrous adrenaline of a man who gets off by firing people in the skull, “John Wick” proves to be a movie of epic proportion.
However, “John Wick” is not just a movie limited to Reeves shooting people in the head with much enjoyment, but a film that has a plot of true depth, pacing and performances worth remembering.
The film doesn’t immediately reveal itself with the bad-ass action that it later proves to revolve around. In the beginning, John Wick appears to be a decorative man who happened to lose his wife to cancer.
Soon after, he receives a puppy named Daisy as a gift to help him cope with the loss of his true love. The dog brings him comfort as he connects with her, bringing him back to earth, for it’s something he can hold onto that connects him to his late wife.
Later, he has an unpleasant confrontation with members of a Russian gang at a gas station, who insist on purchasing his car from him.
When John denies their request and leaves, the trio decide to stay on his tracks, following him home and ruining his life.
The gang members break into his house in the night, aggressively assaulting him and making him watch helplessly as his dog Daisy is murdered and his car is stolen from him.
John does not misuse any of his time once he recovers. He unleashes the demons from his past life as an expert assassin and seeks retaliation on the ones who have hurt him while he was already hurting.
As it turns out, the young leader of the Russian gang that ambushed him is no other than Iosef, the son of Viggo Tarasov, a mob boss and John’s former associate.
Completely cognizant of John’s ability to kill, Tarasov is furious with his son and the action of the film’s plot is set into motion.
Reeves’ emotional and physical performance in “John Wick” is top notch, whether he is mourning his deceased wife or completely going crazy while assassinating rooms full of people.
Beyond plot and performance, this film displays exquisite cinematography as beauty and art shine even through the demise and destruction.
An example of the film’s cinematic artist choices is found in an earlier scene during the funeral of John’s wife, where the picture is heavily desaturated to point that it closely lacks complete color, with the rainy sky above bringing an ominous tone to the entire scene.
“John Wick” is a story of relentless revenge, aestheticizing violence and heavy action. The violence is in no way sugar-coated, however, it’s done both beautifully and artistically.
If someone loved was lost and the past came back to destroy the only happiness that was left during a time of grieving, who wouldn’t seek out to shoot men in the skulls to find peace again?