John Wick starts with a stroke of casting both obvious and ingenious: Keanu Reeves, at his best when saying little and scowling lots, and better suited at conveying action than emotion, playing a stone-faced former assassin on a no-holds-barred revenge bent. Indeed, it proves an idea so solid that an entire film is built around it, with little need for anything else other than feverish choreography, alluring cinematography and able supports. Reeves glares, battles, and dispatches with his enemies, dispensing death as method of dealing with it. Repeat, and then repeat again.
That’s John Wick in a nutshell, the directorial debut of Chad Stahelski – and if anyone should know Reeves’ on-screen strengths, it’s the former stuntman turned filmmaker. In Point Break, The Matrix trilogy, Constantine, Thumbsucker and The Replacements, Stahelski stood in for the star; here, he guides him through the type of work he should do more of. Their latest, most significant collaboration is a fleet feat of thrills and fury, ever economical, effective and artfully presented.
With a name frequently uttered with reverence by friends and foes alike, the titular character might be introduced as a grieving husband gifted an adorable pet puppy to help him cope with his loss, but its clear that his story doesn’t begin or end there. A run in with Iosef (Alfie Allen, TV’s Game of Thrones), the arrogant son of Russian mob boss Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyqvist, Europa Report), sets him on a course for vengeance, with his past soon revealed. Before his happy home life was rocked by tragedy, and before he gave up his career for love, John Wick was the bad guy feared by all the other bad guys.
His need for retaliation fuels a film wholly comprised of brooding looks and brutal showdowns, and refreshingly, Stahelski, producer, co-helmer, fellow former stunt coordinator and The Matrix alum David Leitch, and screenwriter Derek Kolstad (The Package) don’t dare try to sell their feature as anything different. Aping the thrifty efficiency and awe-inducing physicality of Steven Soderberg’s Haywire, as well as the saturated sheen and penchant for silence over dialogue of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive and Only God Forgives, their John Wick is devilishly simple in intent and execution.
From the purposeful selectivity of the visuals, favouring steely white domestic spaces, glowing red bar interiors, and the yellow radiance of skyscrapers littered across the night sky, to the repetitive reverberation of the soundtrack, mixing Marilyn Manson with moody electronica, John Wick the film and the character both exist in a realm where everything is heightened, and remain all the better for it. Other than the central, primal act of a man manifesting his mourning in mayhem, nothing is posed as realistic or resonant. An abundance of subtly styled, never silly but still inherently fanciful flourishes reiterate the feature’s exaggerated confines, as codes dictate the behaviour of hitmen, hotels cater exclusively to underworld figures, ornate gold coins are exchanged as currency, and waste disposal services clean up after the bloody fallout.
Amidst the elegant embellishment, as allowed to unfurl in uncharacteristic long takes and tracking shots that cleverly contrast with the fast, fluid fighting on display, Reeves is understated yet enigmatic as the calm, confident and charismatic centre of the movie’s manic beat-em-up and knock-em-down storm. That he is complemented by an outstanding cast that spans Willem Dafoe (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) as killers for hire, Dean Winters (30 Rock) as a henchman, and Ian McShane (Hercules) and Lance Reddick (Oldboy) as hoteliers is a bonus, and as pleasing and expertly placed as the broader talent is, this is always Reeves’ show. There is an understanding and even a sense of affection in his star turn, perhaps unlikely sentiments to bubble from such ceaselessly violent material, but befitting an effort that is as astute as it is stoic, and as ably suited to its lead performer. John Wick is much a love letter to Reeves’ specific skills as it is a riveting retribution genre flick, their pairing impeccably pitched.
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
John Wick
Director: Chad Stahelski
US, 2014, 101 mins
Release date: October 30
Distributor: Roadshow
Rated: MA
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