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John Wick treads familiar ground: A retired hit man is roped back into the life. But this is the rare film that excels as much for what it puts on display as for what it holds back. It oozes style, yet avoids showy slow-mo and CGI. It's birthed from cliché, yet populated with unpredictable characters. And it's bloody terrific.
It's also brutally efficient. John Wick opens with the titular character (Keanu Reeves) in mourning, having just buried his wife. That leaves him with only his tricked-out Mustang and a new puppy. Pity, then, when sadistic Russian thug Iosef (Alfie Allen) and his cronies jack his ride and kill his dog.
But soon enough, Iosef's mob-boss daddy (Michael Nyqvist) realizes his kid fucked with John Wick, a former employee known as Baba Yaga—"the boogeyman." It's only a matter of time before Wick comes knocking.
That's the first 15 minutes. What unfolds in the next 75 is the kind of old-school action we rarely see in this age of gargantuan spectacle. As directed by stuntmen David Leitch and Chad Stahelski—the latter was Reeves' Matrix stunt double—the action unfolds without confusing jump cuts, putting the choreography front and center. Whenever the story approaches redundancy, the directors pull out another stylistic flourish. Whether it's a close-quarters throwdown that evokes The Raid, a psychedelic nightclub shootout with shades of John Boorman's Point Blank or a balletic melee that recalls Skyfall, Leitch and Stahelski create a constantly evolving landscape of carnage.
It all unfolds in a fully lived-in version of New York that allows for maximum wit and minimal exposition. Assassins—including Willem Dafoe and Adrianne Palaki—operate under a code, strictly enforced by a mysterious guild with its own currency and neutral zones. None of this is really spelled out. It's simply the world Wick occupies.
Unburdened by exposition, Reeves is free to do what he does best: be one of his generation's best action stars. John Wick
is a perfect vehicle for him. His character is based wholly on vague
legacy, asked to do little more than look good and murder with finesse.
Reeves can do that better than most, and John Wick is one of the best entries on his résumé. Which is to say, it's one of the best action flicks to come along in years.
Critic's Grade: A-
SEE IT: John Wick is rated R. It opens Friday at most major Portland-area theaters.
WWeek 2015