Okay, it used to be the girlfriend was assaulted and the tough guy took revenge (in MAD MAX and DEATH WISH era). Then we went to the wife, and maybe the family killed to motivate an action hero to pull out all his guns and seek vengeance on those responsible. By 1981, I think Bronson was blowing away thugs because his housekeeper was raped, so...motives have always been thin in the revenge-thriller genre. In JOHN WICK, Keanu Reeves plays a depressed man who recently lost his wife to cancer, but she set him up with a cool puppy to take care of after she's gone. The puppy is something to love, to care for, to FEEL again...to make life worth living. Thugs come in and steal Keanu's car and kill his puppy for no reason. This is an awful scene, not explicit, but any bad guy that comes in and wastes a puppy for no reason...well, you hate them beyond belief immediately. Keanu is righteously pissed and loads up with weapons Arnie-style that he had hidden under the floor. Turns out he was a retired hit man for the Russian Mob, the best at what he does. He's the guy you call "when you want to bogey man killed." And his old boss' kid is the dog killer. This sets into motion an incredibly epic bloodbath with all guns blazing as Keanu slips back into MATRIX territory and wastes mafia dudes and animal killers left and right. I found myself immersed in one action setpiece after the next, loving it as he annihilated one bad guy after the other so casual and cool, as is always the case in movies like this. And speaking of movies like this, GOOD ONES are few and far between. JOHN WICK is wickedly delicious though- awesome action, blood spraying everywhere, and SPOILER HERE- Dog Killer gets his just desserts! I was more than satisfied with this movie. Great music score, spectacular acting (Keanu is best in roles where he's like Charles Bronson, taking names, numbers, and kicking ass with no expression) and he needs to continue making movies like this. Between SPEED, THE MATRIX, and JOHN WICK, Keanu has quite the action trilogy of excellence under his belt. (And no, I don't count the MATRIX sequels- they sucked soooo bad!) Anyway, JOHN WICK! See it and enjoy it like the classic material it is. If you like action, you will love this movie. There were portions so wickedly violent and fist-person shooter point-of-view that I almost felt like I WAS John Wick. And buddy, let me tell you...vengeance is his! YES! Most satisfying!
Okay, it used to be the girlfriend was assaulted and the tough guy took revenge (in MAD MAX and DEATH WISH era). Then we went to the wife, and maybe the family killed to motivate an action hero to pull out all his guns and seek vengeance on those responsible. By 1981, I think Bronson was blowing away thugs because his housekeeper was raped, so...motives have always been thin in the revenge-thriller genre. In JOHN WICK, Keanu Reeves plays a depressed man who recently lost his wife to cancer, but she set him up with a cool puppy to take care of after she's gone. The puppy is something to love, to care for, to FEEL again...to make life worth living. Thugs come in and steal Keanu's car and kill his puppy for no reason. This is an awful scene, not explicit, but any bad guy that comes in and wastes a puppy for no reason...well, you hate them beyond belief immediately. Keanu is righteously pissed and loads up with weapons Arnie-style that he had hidden under the floor. Turns out he was a retired hit man for the Russian Mob, the best at what he does. He's the guy you call "when you want to bogey man killed." And his old boss' kid is the dog killer. This sets into motion an incredibly epic bloodbath with all guns blazing as Keanu slips back into MATRIX territory and wastes mafia dudes and animal killers left and right. I found myself immersed in one action setpiece after the next, loving it as he annihilated one bad guy after the other so casual and cool, as is always the case in movies like this. And speaking of movies like this, GOOD ONES are few and far between. JOHN WICK is wickedly delicious though- awesome action, blood spraying everywhere, and SPOILER HERE- Dog Killer gets his just desserts! I was more than satisfied with this movie. Great music score, spectacular acting (Keanu is best in roles where he's like Charles Bronson, taking names, numbers, and kicking ass with no expression) and he needs to continue making movies like this. Between SPEED, THE MATRIX, and JOHN WICK, Keanu has quite the action trilogy of excellence under his belt. (And no, I don't count the MATRIX sequels- they sucked soooo bad!) Anyway, JOHN WICK! See it and enjoy it like the classic material it is. If you like action, you will love this movie. There were portions so wickedly violent and fist-person shooter point-of-view that I almost felt like I WAS John Wick. And buddy, let me tell you...vengeance is his! YES! Most satisfying!
