John Wick

Synopsis

Days after an former assassin buries his wife, a young Russian gangster decides he wants his car and his dog. After killing the dog and taking the car, the former assassin enters the life that he worked hard to leave to get his revenge.

Review

What an introduction to the series. I know that I have already written about John Wick Chapter 4, but I felt I needed to rewatch them and honestly, who wouldn't?

This movie set a tone for most action movies that no one realized needed a change. We have made fun of movies that never reload, but this movie made realistic gun fights something that people look forward to. The level of dedication that the cast put into is so high, that it is almost as good as the movies. I mean, Keanu Reeves figured out the mag flip reload by himself, or created it himself. The gun fights, fist fights, and knife fights feel so deeply authentic that you could see them as being real with real lives at stake without much thought otherwise.

However, this training is all to enhance this movie's story. The trickle of information about the underground world is still something we want to know more of. Even after 4 movies and a TV show The Continental. That itch start in this movie. Gold coins, cleaners, cops who know who John is, and rules that cannot be broken are running so deep into the story that you are enthralled with the action and pacing.

The cast all the way around does an outstanding job. Keanu and Michael play so well against each other that you feel the history between them. I saw a YouTube video a while back that was studying the body language that Michael Nyquist put into telling the story of "Baba Yaga" and how well it was done. It really is one of my favorite scenes because of the level of love put into it.

My Rating

I initially rated this at an 8. It is an origin story and there typically are pacing issue with those. However, while writing this I realized how much effort, love, and action they put into it and how much it changed the movie industry and for that it deserves another point. So in the end I have to give it a 9. Its a bit slow, but it needed to be since it was such a drastic departure from previous action films.

Parental Rating

There is blood, gore, sex, violence against animals, and language throughout this movie that will make my mom run for the hills. My dad though, because the words "God damn" are not said would still enjoy this movie. The action is going to keep him occupied and involved. Dad approved. Mom rejected.

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