Friday, November 7, 2014

John Wick // Keanu Reeves {Movie}

http://images.popmatters.com/news_art/j/johnwick_filmreview_poster200.jpgWhy I'm watching
Keanu Reeves + action movie = AWESOME. 

Where I saw the movie
Our local theater. I LOVE our local theater… matinee tickets are like $5, and the chairs are super comfy. You can even move the armrests out of the way to snuggle. We went by ourselves on a weeknight, so the theater was mostly empty.

So how was it?

John Wick is your typical, formulaic action/revenge movie. And it. is. awesome. John Wick is the guy you send to take out the guy from Taken.

The story is pretty basic. After his wife’s death, ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement for revenge. And by revenge, I mean take down the Russian mob and kill everyone involved. It has all the tropes: retired hitman, deceased wife, revenge, cool cars, seedy underground crime organizations, Russian mobsters, annoying sons of Russian mobsters, gun fights, knife fights, car chases, a chase scene through a crowded club, dramatic one-liners and sarcastic quips… everything you could want in an action movie, and it’s all done really, really well. And it keeps a perfect balance between stylized and realistic.

Recommendation
This is an action movie that will appeal to pretty much everyone, as long as you don't mind a little blood. There is a lot of violence, but no excessive gore.  

Feels
Touching, sad, cheesy, hilarious. You will sniffle, you will laugh, you will cheer.

Favorites
The realism and detail in the fight choreography, especially the club scene. What action movie is really complete without a chase scene through a crowded club, techno music blasting? And NO ONE can deliver a cheesy action hero one-liner like Keanu Reeves. I don’t want to give anything away about the (very sparse) plot, but the opening scenes definitely get you ready for some serious hardcore revenge.

http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTgzMTkxNjAxNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDU3MDE0MjE@._V1_SY317_CR3,0,214,317_AL_.jpgLeast favorites
There was one death that I wish hadn’t happened, although I can see why it was sort of necessary for the plot.  

Related viewing
If you liked this movie, check out the Korean action movie Man From Nowhere starring Bin Won. The fight choreography has a similar level of realism and intricacy, and Bin Won has a similar deadpan delivery.




So what did I really think?
Click "read more"... massive spoilers ahead!

Keanu’s performance at the beginning, when we see Wick broken after his wife’s death, hits SO HARD. It's actually uncomfortable. He seemed almost fragile, and it takes a lot of courage to make your badass action hero fragile. See, Keanu Reeves can act! (No excuses for Dracula 2000, though; that was a hot mess).

I like that his wife died of natural causes, not murder. It gives the movie a feeling of “you hurt me” instead of the caveman-esque “you took something that was mine.” She was someone lost, not something stolen. I’d even say it was feminist in a subtle but meaningful way: the female character was a partner who happened to die and leave Wick emotionally vulnerable, not just someone for the male character to protect/save/revenge. Not to mention, this allows the male main character to be emotionally vulnerable in a way that protect/save/revenge-my-woman does not.

AND we get a female villain who is badass, without making a big deal about her being female. No sexual tension, no past relationship, no leveraging her sex appeal to be more dangerous, no porny shots, no emotional vulnerability, etc. etc. Don’t get me wrong, those characters are cool. But Black Widow shouldn’t be the only option, much as I love her.

Ok, moving on to the hotel: oh. my. god. This was deliciously comic-booky. The hotel is neutral ground for this elaborate, old-school, almost ritualistic assassin community, run on the currency of tradition, respect, and mysterious gold coins. And way it’s introduced to us bit by bit… wonderful. Most movies would have had some ham-handed conversation to explain it all (why exactly would two assassins need to remind each other what the gold coins are for?) or worse, a voice-over.

I absolutely LOVED Willem Dafoe’s character - his was the death I disliked. I’d love to see a second movie from his point of view. I think he could have survived, if the whole theme of the movie wasn’t loss and grieving.

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