Directed by Chad Stahelki, 2014’s John Wick is a parody of an action movie. No. This doesn’t sound right. Maybe we should lead with this, instead: directed by Chad Stahelki, 2014’s John Wick is an earnest action movie like few others. Yeah, doesn’t sound right either… Stahelki’s John Wick is both a parody of an action movie and an earnest action movie, all at the same time. It’s a movie about loss and what unprocessed grief can lead to, but it’s also not that deep. It’s full of gravitas and amazingly choreographed fight sequences — but it is also absurd and funny.
‘John Wick’ Is an Exciting, Beautifully Shot Action Film
Starring Keanu Reeves as a retired hitman forced back into the game by the inconsequential actions of a mafia boss’ spoiled son, John Wick pokes fun at numerous conventions of the action genre. It replaces the murdered and/or kidnaped family members of the likes of Taken and Death Wish with a dead dog. It hypes up its leading man to a point in which he even gets his own twisted, horror movie-like lullaby. It features not just one, but two revenge plots. It creates an impossible world in which guns for hire have their own little society with its own currency and services industry. It has a secondary character that strangles people with her own hair, for crying out loud! The movie is full of gags, some discreet, others more in-your-face, and it’s impossible not to let out at least a chuckle during scenes such as John casually greeting a fellow hitman at a killers-only hotel while in the middle of a fight.
But as is usually the case of any good action movie parody, John Wick isn’t all about the jokes. It is also a properly entertaining action flick, with breathtaking pacing and amazing fight scenes, conducted by fight coordinators Jonathan Eusebio and Jon Valera. The first proper fight sequence inside John’s house and the one inside the Red Circle nightclub, in which the rhythm of the gunshots is matched to the beat of the music, are particularly noteworthy. That aforementioned scene in which John is nearly strangled to death by a woman’s hair? It is just as riveting as it is preposterous. From car chases to hands-on combat, John Wick has action sequences for all kinds of fans of the genre, and they’re all expertly choreographed and shot. Jonathan Sela’s camera work leaves no room for confusion as to what is happening on screen, and the film’s full of contrasts color-scheme lends a dreamy atmosphere to its action sequences that makes them all the more enthralling. Again, the Red Circle scene comes to mind as the movie’s high point with its remarkable shades of red, blue, and black, as well as the ballet-like camera movements. As John dances with Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his henchmen, so does the movie dance with us.
Another aspect of John Wick that is worthy of note is its worldbuilding. Written by Derek Kolstad, the story is full of little details that leave us wondering about this uncanny universe inhabited by John and his colleagues. From the Continental Hotel to the gold coins that make up the sole currency accepted in this criminal underworld, the film is full of nuggets that point to the existence of a larger world that we just aren’t seeing in its entirety. It’s not hard to understand how it spawned a now four-film-long franchise with numerous fans devoted to cataloging and understanding the particulars of its universe.
Why ‘John Wick’ Loses Itself in a Series of Unearned Deaths
But at the same time it becomes evident why John Wick earned as many sequels as it did, it can also be difficult to keep yourself interested in the film up until its very end. You see, John Wick peaks relatively early, somewhere around the one-hour mark. Its last 40 minutes are somewhat of a drag, even if they are still packed full of gunshots, explosions, and physical brawls. The problem is that John Wick has a protagonist that is too awesome for its own good. After a while, seeing him dispose of enemies with little to no effort becomes repetitive. Not even getting him briefly captured by mafia boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist) is enough to break the cycle. Tarasov and his minions might look threatening, but you just know that John Wick is going to take them all down in the blink of an eye – and not in that “he’s the hero, so of course he’s going to win” kind of way. You know he will succeed because, as the movie itself tells you, there is no real competition for John. The actual stakes are very low.
The fact that the movie doesn’t really work on Viggo as its final villain doesn’t do much to help its second half. Sure, it makes some thematic sense for him to be John’s real nemesis: his son took someone that John loved, and John took someone from him; they used to be associates, perhaps even good friends; they are both men marked by grief and guilt, and so on. Still, the film doesn’t actually do anything to make us loathe Viggo as much as we loathed Iosef. Sure, he takes out John’s friend, Marcus (Willem Dafoe), but Marcus is also not that compelling of a character to begin with. It is always sad when a film underutilizes Willem Dafoe, and, in that sense, John Wick is a proper tragedy.
The death of Ms. Perkins (Adrianne Palicki), the aforementioned hair strangler, feels equally unearned. Perhaps in a later installment of the franchise, with the world of John Wick more properly developed, we could’ve cared that she broke the Continental’s rules. But, as it is, this tidbit of information just feels extremely unimportant. Granted, as a scene, her death is by far the most impressive of the entire film, but as the end of a subplot, it has no real impact. As a matter of fact, it is hard to understand why Perkins is even present for the second half of the movie.
But John Wick’s greatest crime when it comes to character deaths is the demise of Iosef Tarasov. Let me level with you real quick: prior to watching John Wick nearly a decade after its release, I was not aware that they killed his dog. Even with all the time I spend on-line, I managed to get that spoiler all wrong. For some reason, I was under the impression that they kidnaped the dog, and that Wick’s entire journey was all about getting her back. When Iosef killed Daisy with his own two hands, I was horrified and I was angry. I wanted to see that bastard pay, as I imagine most, if not all of you did. And yet Iosef’s death was so quick and unimpressive that I had to rewind just to make sure that it was actually him, and not one of his henchmen, that got shot. It is the one death that actually feels earned in the whole film, but the pleasure of finally seeing Iosef get his comeuppance is completely taken from us.
None of this takes away John Wick’s merits. Overall, the movie is still an entertaining watch, exciting and often quite beautiful to look at. And, as a parody, there is no doubt that John Wick succeeds in making us laugh at the absurdities of the action genre. But as an earnest action movie, John Wick commits what is perhaps the gravest of sins: instead of going out with a bang, it fades slowly, leaving viewers drained instead of pumped. It is perhaps a good first episode for a longer saga, seeing how well it does in presenting its universe and its main character. But as a standalone film, it just feels like there is something missing.
Rating: B
