I’ve seen all 5 films (John Wicks 1-4 and Ballerina) many times and I’m still trying to wrap my brain around what is actually going on in this world.
At first one might assume it’s just a typical “hip gangster” film where we are following around this former assassin as he travels through this underground world of organized crime. But the more you see of this world, the more you realize how utterly bonkers it is:
The entirety of the criminal world is run by this “High Table” that seems to maintain absolute control over every criminal organization - Russian Mob, Yakuza, Mafia, so on and so forth. Under that there are various factions of assassins and whatnot
Like so many assassins that John Wick can kill more assassins in New York over the course of a week or so than there are actual IRL murders in NYC for an entire year. And not only does it not put a dent in the assassin economy, it doesn’t seem to make the news or even warrant police response of any kind.
Who are all these assassins assassinating if they all belong to the same criminal network anyway? .
Are there even police or law enforcement of any kind in John Wick’s world? I don’t recall ever seeing a single police office. Not in Times Square. Not in the PATH station / Oculus (with trains that inexplicable travel to Canal and Rector Street rather than NJ).
Are there even regular civilians in John Wick’s world? It seems like whenever there is an update to the contract out on Wick or his “encommunicado” status, half the cell phones on the street go off like an Amber Alert or local tornado warning was just issued. Like can anyone with the app cash in on one of these contracts?
And it’s not like becoming an elite assassin is easy. As I recall, one of the trainees in Ballerina flunked out of Ruska Roma ballerina assassin school and ended up as an actual professional ballerina.
Is it even a “secret society”? What kind of secret society has a global network of 5 star luxury hotels compete with all sorts of “services” like tactical tailors and armory sommeliers or engages in running gun battles and duels across popular tourist destinations?
And this whole thing started off because apparently the only jackass in the entire world who doesn’t know who John Wick is decided to kill his dog and steal his car?
Most of those details were not in the original film, to be fair. There is clearly something surreal going on, but it is left up to your imagination and suspension of disbelief. John Wick himself began his career as an assassin as a Marine in Vietnam, or something, not in ballet class, and, remember, his name was whispered in awe among the criminal underworld; he was definitely not a dime a dozen.
And, yes, there are cops. Who do you think responded to the “noise complaint”? [“You, uh, working again?”]
I’ve heard the name but not seen the movies, nor read anything about them. But I gotta say the OP has written one of the best advertisements / world synopses I’ve ever read. Having read that, I’m definitely up for the movies.
Yeah, although the first movie isn’t remotely realistic you could slightly suspend your belief for the story. After that, you just need to invest in the world and accept that 80% of the population is apparently employed in the Corporate Assassination Apparatus. One amusing thing that WAS included in the first movie was the gold coin standard. Seemingly, everything runs for a gold coin. Night at the Continental? One gold coin. Gin and tonic at the Continental bar? One gold coin. Automatic belt-fed shotgun from the Continental Armory? One gold coin. Getting your shirt laundered? You guessed it…
In my opinion, the first movie is the strongest and best, the third was the weakest and most over the top (but not in a good way) though still watchable as part of the series. Two, Four and Ballerina all rank in the middle and I wouldn’t really argue anyone’s ordering of them.
If you like stylish shoot ‘em ups, they’re good times. My wife even has an amusing affection for them and it’s not her genre at all. They’re just well done and strike the right tone of taking their world seriously while also being completely unserious.
Besides the talents of Keanu Reeves, ain’t nobody Ian McShanes like Ian McShane.
I enjoyed the first, in a weird sort of way, but I’m with the OP. The world of the film doesn’t make any kind of sense. Neither does Detroit in The Crow, for that matter. (The gang kills Eric and rapes and murders his girlfriend to drive everyone out of the building, for business reasons, and a year later it still sits empty and untouched. Why? And who is buying all this stolen merch? I’d never go into Gideon’s!)
Given that the entire movie series was driven by someone killing Wick’s dog, does anyone actually believe that a guy who shoots 15,000 people in the head isn’t a born sociopath, incapable of empathy or any feelings at all, and why would he even own a dog? It’s a liability.
That was the whole point, wasn’t it? His wife was what made him “normal” and then the dog was his connection to the memories of his deceased wife. Kill the dog and get Killer Wick back.
I want to know about the women who applied for an administrative assistant role and get told “OK, so the dress code here is Rockabilly Housewife and you’re going to need to learn how to type on a VIC-20 in three inch red nails…”
I think the franchise is totally fab because I accept the fact that it is fiction. In reality, it is no more ridiculous than the Star Wars and Star Trek franchises, which I also totally love. And how about all of the horror movies out there? A little doll named Chucky is a successful serial killer? Really?! LOL
I equate it more with Harry Potter. Both have extensive secret societies that are supposedly happening around us without anyone noticing. Neither work if you think too much about it.
There was a mobster-type movie with James Gandolfini in it where a dog was in jeopardy, and we walked out - partly because it was a pretty crummy film, but also because we couldn’t stand the idea of the dog being killed. Extraneous humans being gunned down, OK, but dog death - nope.
I like the semi-blasé attitude of ordinary civilians when Wick and his would-be assassins are getting into it, on a subway train for instance. During the duel to the death with knives, passengers do scurry off at the next stop, but there’s never any screaming or panic. It’s just another day on the E train.
Good example. To me, enjoying fiction means we are willing to step into an alternative universe where the laws governing that universe are different from the ones governing ours.
Obviously it’s fiction. But the premise (at least in the first movie) is that it’s our real world but with shadowy assassin cartels. New York City is still supposed to be New York City, not NYC On The Assassin Planet. As they made more movies, the whole thing took on a life of its own where now it’s more alternate reality (“The World of John Wick”), like the New York City of the MCU though arguably even the MCU doesn’t have superheroes and cosmic invaders stretching as far a shadow as in Wickverse where seemingly everything is somehow assassin connected. Walk into a laundromat in Spider-Man and it’s probably a standard laundromat at least until a supervillian crashes through it. Step into a laundromat in a Wick movie and a bank of washing machines slides to reveal a military grade weapons cache and database of all the assassins that need assassinating that week.
But, sure, it’s fiction and buying into it is required to enjoy the ride. Doesn’t mean it’s not fun to talk about or discuss the silliness of it though (just like Star Wars, Star Trek, horror movies, comic movies, etc etc)
The amount of assassinations going on in this world that requires literally thousands of assassins to be active in every city to the point that they need a massive support network including hotels in every city, that constantly looked packed, is staggering. We are talking millions of assassinations per year to make that amount of man power anywhere near necessary.
[“You, uh, working again?”]