JOHN WICK (2014) MOVIE NEWS & REVIEW

john wick (2014) movie

Genre              |   Action Crime

Classification   |   MA 15+

Running time   |   101 minutes

Released         |   24 October 2014

cast

Keanu Reeves ... John Wick
Michael Nyqvist ... Viggo Tarasov
Alfie Allen ... Iosef Tarasov
Willem Dafoe ... Marcus
Bridget Moynahan ... Helen
John Leguizamo ... Aurelio
Ian McShane ... Winston
Lance Reddick ... Hotel Manager / Charon
​Adrianne Palicki ... Ms. Perkins

director

Chad Stahelski
David Leitch

writer

Derek Kolstad ... (written by)

cinematographer

​Jonathan Sela

music

​Tyler Bates
Joel J. Richard

film editor

​Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir ... (as Elisabet Ronalds)

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box office result

Worldwide               $88,761,661  

Australia                 $2,822,192 ​

North America        $​​​​​​43,037,835

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the best dialogue

Winston: To what do we owe the pleasure?
John Wick: Iosef Tarasov.
Winston: What about him?
John Wick: I'd like to talk with him.
Winston: A talk, you say. I'm familiar with the parlance, Jonathan.

Winston: Have you thought this through? I mean, chewed down to the bone? You got out once. You dip so much as a pinky back into this pond... you may well find something reaches out... and drags you back into its depths.

John Wick: Viggo.
Viggo Tarasov: Yeah?
John Wick: When Helen died, I lost everything. Until that dog arrived on my doorstep... A final gift from my wife... In that moment, I received some semblance of hope... an opportunity to grieve unalone... And your son... took that from me.
Viggo Tarasov: Oh, God.
John Wick: Stole that from me... *Killed that from me*! People keep asking if I'm back and I haven't really had an answer. But now, yeah, I'm thinkin' I'm back. So you can either hand over your son or you can die screaming alongside him!

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sequel

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER TWO (2017)

JOHN WICK (2014) MOVIE IMAGES

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JOHN WICK (2014) STORY SYNOPSIS

​Legendary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) retired from his violent career after marrying the love of his life. Her sudden death leaves John in deep mourning. When sadistic mobster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his thugs steal John's prized car and kill the puppy that was a last gift from his wife, John unleashes the remorseless killing machine within and seeks vengeance. Meanwhile, Iosef's father (Michael Nyqvist) -- John's former colleague -- puts a huge bounty on John's head.

JOHN WICK (2014) MOVIE REVIEW

Reviewed by Mark Geraghty   |   Review date 23 Ocotber 2014

Pop ​Movee Rating

JOHN WICK is the most smashing action thriller of 2014! Its premise is based on the simplest of ideas: revenge. Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, a former underworld figure who has been transformed by love and has distanced himself from his past and it’s by far his best performance since the off-beat 2006 Phillip K. Dick adaptation of A SCANNER DARKLY. 

In JOHN WICK's opening montage, the audience see Wick’s world come quietly unravelled through a series of scenes that end with the death of his wife from a terminal illness. At his wife’s funeral, the audience are given their first insight into the man Wick once was with a visit from his old friend Marcus (Willem Dafoe), who’s just checking in to make sure that he’s “alright”. It’s a short scene but establishes very early the deliberate economy by which JOHN WICK has been made, as this brief exchange of dialogue establishes the relationship between Wick and Marcus and its importance later in the film.

The night after his the funeral, Wick receives a puppy; a final gift that his dying wife had arranged to help him deal with his grief. He quickly develops a grudging affection for the dog and the pair head out in Wick’s 1969 Mustang to do errands. While at the local petrol station, Wick crosses paths with three punks, one of whom wants to buy his car and then makes a wisecrack in Russian about his “bitch” dog. The punk who makes the remark is Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen), the son of a New York Russian crime boss. The audience gain another insight into Wick at this point as he counters Iosef’s insult in fluent Russian, brushes him off and leaves the young punk somewhat confused by what’s just happened.

Later that night, Iosef and his two friends track Wick back to his house and break-in. To teach Wick a lesson, Iosef kills his dog and then steals his car. Iosef, not realising with whom he has messed, takes the Mustang to Aurelio (John Leguizamo), the owner of a vehicle cop-shop controlled by Iosef’s father. Aurelio immediately recognises Wick’s car and tells Iosef to get the hell out, laying a punch on him in the process. Later, Aurelio receives a phone call from Viggo Tarasov (Michael Nyquist), Iosef’s father, wanting to know why Aurelio punched his son. He informs the crime boss that Iosef is responsible for killing John Wick’s dog and stealing his car. Viggo knows the fuse has been lit and that hell is about to arrive on his doorstep.

From this point, the story rarely takes a moment to catch itself. Derek Kolstad’s screenplay continues to provide the viewer with the salient amount of exposition to care for Wick while creating multiple set pieces that allow Reeves to take full advantage of the physicality of the role. Reeves has never been highly regarded as a ‘actor’ and nothing in JOHN WICK will change any of the preconceptions that movie-goers may have about him. The great benefit for Reeves in this film is that it’s the action, not the acting, which makes his performance and the film successful. Reeves is fantastic in the action sequences. His movements are purposeful and economical; making it very easy for the camera to track his every movement clearly. JOHN WICK co-directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski are both experienced stunt choreographers who have worked with Reeves on THE MATRIX, THE MATRIX RELOADED, THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS and CONSTANTINE. Based on the results of what they have delivered with JOHN WICK, both Leitch and Stahelski clearly understand the combination of style and economy required to deliver an all-out action thriller.  

Beyond their leading man, Leitch and Stahelski have assembled an outstanding team of actors and movie-makers for JOHN WICK. Michael Nyquist, as Viggo Tarasov, has the hardest job in the film; balancing his desire to protect his son while, simultaneously, admiring Wick for his ‘unique’ approach to getting things done. Ian McShane has a small but important role as Winston, a man of influence within the criminal underworld of assassins and hit-men. Adrianne Palicki injects the second half of the film with sultry antagonism, as her character – Ms Perkins – breaks the code of the assassin’s profession in an effort to claim the contract Viggo has placed on Wick. Lance Reddick adds an element of mystery & mythology as the Manager of the Continental Hotel, a neutral-zone for assassins in New York on “business”, as does David Patrick Kelly as Charlie, a man who runs a very unique cleaning business.

JOHN WICK benefits greatly from very strong cinematography by Jonathan Sela and a pumping soundtrack from Tyler Bates & Joel J. Richard. The visuals and the soundtrack combine to add an extra layer of style to the film that is completely unexpected and pleasing to both the eye and the ear. Jonathan Sela is a relatively young film-maker, but he has already been director of photography on a number of large scale movies including 2013’s  GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD and has worked with feature film director John Moore on two other occasions lensing LAW ABIDING CITIZEN and MAX PAYNE. Much of JOHN WICK takes place at night and Sela provides a lighting palette that is very effective at communicating the sub-culture of crime and assassins, with the use of red and purple highlights against grey, smoke-filled garages, nightclubs and hotels.

Recent entries into the action thriller genre, such as Denzel Washington’s THE EQUALIZER, have attempted to intellectualise their protagonists and make them sympathetic for the sake of audience fulfilment at the end of the movie. JOHN WICK doesn’t bother with this approach. It uses a simple premise and then unleashes an almost non-stop barrage of violence that only comes to end when Wick himself decides that enough is enough. It’s an excellent action film and a great return to form for Keanu Reeves.

JOHN WICK (2014) USEFUL LINKS

John Wick - Wikipedia
​John Wick (2014) - IMDb
​John Wick (2014) - Rotten Tomatoes

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