Mark this one down on your calendar- Keanu finally made a movie I loved!
John Wick is an action movie that suits him. For once his blank face and general morose appearance serves the story. Reeves plays Wick, a one-time ace assassin, that found the love of a good woman and retired only to lose her to a terminal illness. As Wick returns from her funeral he receives her dying gift, a small puppy. The card tells him he needs to learn to love again, and the dog will be a place to start. Of course, some punk played by Alfie Allen kills the pup while stealing Wick's car, setting him off on the path to vengeance.
Overall the cast is superb. Reeves accesses some inner reserve of anguish to make Wick a tortured soul and not just the typical cookie cutter killer out for revenge. There are some nice appearances from some favorite action/fantasy actors of series past (think
Legend of the Seeker and the old
Mortal Kombat TV show). Adrianne Palicki has a nice role as a rival assassin and Willem Defoe has a small but part as a mysterious figure from Wick's past. The cinematography is great and the action scenes are very well executed.
John Wick has some of the most interesting and novel gun battles I've seen on the big screen. Gun geeks will love the endless display of gun porn including Wick's tricked out compensated HK P30L.
All in all this is one of the action flicks I've seen in a while. Highly recommended! Very very violent and brutal and not for the faint of heart, but action fans will be very pleased.
