John Wick; Keanu Reeves is back in his asskicking shoes [spoilers]

Cafe Society
1

So, Keanu Reeves is once again in a kickass action movie.

Spoiler space.

More spoiler space.

Is that enough spoiler space? I don’t usually start threads like this.

And after all that, I think these only qualify as minor spoilers, about what you’d get out of a review:

I knew nothing about this film until I saw a favorable review by Movie Bob, and I wanted an excuse to go see one more fun movie at the Alamo Drafthouse before I moved away.

I went in expecting a fun action movie and I got exactly that. I really enjoyed it, the action scenes were well choreographed, brutal, and bloody. The worldbuilding was very well executed, with lots of show-don’t-tell and interesting hints at a larger world under the main arc of the movie. I have no idea as to whether they’re planning on starting a franchise with this movie, but if so, this is how you start one right. I didn’t like the artsy subtitles and some of the music choices, but they’re minor complaints at best.

I also liked Alfie Allen as the kingpin’s son, though I wonder if his work in Game of Thrones is typecasting him a bit. I saw a lot of Theon in his performance in John Wick.

2

I was generally uninterested in the film, but the fairly good reviews (RT=86, MC=67) intrigued me.

How wrong I was.

I thought it was ridiculously derivative of every other moody, brooding, dimly-lit, highly-amped action movie of late. Nothing original, nothing special, all the familiar players and set-pieces (hotel room, nightclub, goon’s layer) without one unexpected variable.

Although they’re not perfect, recent action films like The Drop and A Walk Among the Tombstones look like Ibsen compared to this turd.

As long as we’re allowing open spoilers, a few things in particular pissed me off:

(1) The entire film is set in this secret-underground society where police don’t exist, body clean-up crews make house calls regularly, bodies fall and general mayhem occurs in public places without anyone noticing. In short, this super-cool alternate reality that made absolutely no sense and stunk of incredibly lazy story-telling.

(2) Much is made of his dog getting killed in the trailer, but he owns the dog for ONE DAY. He doesn’t even have any time to form any real attachment to the animal, so when its death occurs, there’s no emotional dimension to it, because the dog wasn’t a companion or friend–it was simply a symbol and metaphor (Wick even explicitly says as much later). This is even lazier story-telling.

(3) John Wick has spidey-sense, anticipating gunmen around corners and dispatching them in phenomenal quantities. Of course, this eliminates any form of tension because he’s not a human. He’s the T-1000, and recovers from his wounds almost as quickly. Still, with all his extraordinary marksmanship, he still can’t shoot the one guy he’s trying to.

If I hadn’t already seen Men, Women & Children and A Million Ways to Die in the West, this would easily be the worst movie I’ve seen all year. Blech.

3

I went and saw this expecting guns and car chases and quippy one-liners. The only thing that came up short was the number of one liners.

It is a shallow movie for people that want to see bad guys dispatched in unique ways. My favorite was

hitting a baddie with a car and then shooting him several times as he rolled over the roof.

Overall, I liked it.

4

I, um, really liked this a lot for what it is. I enjoyed the action, especially how there were a lot of long takes that you could actually follow. I liked the world-building; I’d watch a film (faux-documentary?) entirely about the Continental. I thought it was really well paced, without much ‘dead space’ once the action ramped up, and that it used its exposition fairly well.

I’d have no problem recommending this to most people if they like action generally and want a break from Oscar-season.

5

Wife and I went and saw it. Wasn’t as good as I’d expected based on the reviews. I expected something similiar to Equilibrium with regards to the gun fighting but it ended up feeling more like a live action Call of Duty where Wick was basically quick-scoping everyone.

It was wall to wall cliches ending with the biggest, most played out action movie cliche of all time

Enough weapons John. Let’s fist fight to the death. Oh wait! I’m kidding, here’s my KNIFE!:rolleyes:

It was fine for the most part but since Nightcrawler wasn’t out it was our only option.

6

I really liked this movie as well. It delivered exactly what I expected: guns, cars, and ass-kicking. Really enjoyed the action, and the funny parts were a bonus.

Paraphrased:
Boss: What did my son do that made you punch him?
John Leguizamo: He stole John Wick’s car and killed his puppy.
Boss: …oh.

7

I think the opinion on this movie moved up and down like a whipsaw. Critics figured another Keanu action flick was going to suck, so they went it with super low expectations and were pleasantly surprised. This gave it an absurdly high Rotten Tomatoes score (something like 80% fresh). I went and saw it with high expectations (because of the reviews) and was disappointed. It was better than your average brainless shoot 'em up, but only marginally.

I really liked the dark color palette and the build up to the revenge but everything else was pretty average. The secret assassin hotel was really terrible and didn’t add anything to the movie except to waste Al Sweringen’s performance. (Why won’t someone give this man a juicy role?) And let us know that you can pay for everything in Chuck E. Cheese tokens.

The worst action cliche was the part when the Russian boss has John Wick captured and instead of SHOOTING HIM IN THE FUCKING HEAD WHILE HE STILL CAN he decides, Dr. Evil-like, so leave a whole two (2!) men behind to finish the job. Oh, and don’t just shoot him in the face, slowly suffocate him with a plastic bag. We want to give him a fighting chance, after all. It’s not like he’s the best assassin in history and everyone shits their pants just at the mere mention of his name. No, just leave two guys and I won’t even stick around to watch.

I did love that the whole thing was inspired by the dog. It could have used more light touches like that. It wasn’t a bad movie but it wasn’t that good either. I’d be interested in seeing this director’s next movie. A fun brainless action flick, if you’re in the mood for that.

8

I finally got around to seeing this movie. It wasn’t great, but it was a fun bang bang shoot-em up action/revenge flick. I’ve always enjoyed Reeves, and the fewer lines he has, the better the performance.

I got a big kick out of:

During the scene in the club, I started thinking nah, it can’t be, but yes it was. The character Kirill, who pretty much kicked Wick’s ass, was none other than Agent Johnson…Upgrades!..from The Matrix: Reloaded. Also reunited from that film, the doctor who patched him up in the hotel room was The Keymaker..

9

American action hero thwarts Russian mob cell cultivated in America with requisite club scene and 1 vs. 40 shoot-out. It was refreshingly rare in contemporary cinema as only this, and The Equalizer, and Taken 3, and Blackhat have done it within the last 3 months.

[QUOTE=MovieMogul]
…compared to this turd.
[/QUOTE]

Why are you insulting turds?

10

I was disappointed. I expected the plot to be thin, but I was surprised by the complete lack of story.

Also, if you’re going to show Mr. Super Badass without his shirt, you might want to make sure he has some muscle tone.

11

That’s a shame. The trailer made it look like it was going to be good. But it says a lot that they couldn’t even get “bad guys kill man’s dog” right.

12

I was also massively disappointed. I thought the digital blood splashes when anyone was shot really brought the movie down. I don’t know why, but they were massively noticeable.

And it was just OK anyway.

13

I thought it was great. The fight scenes were terrific.

I expected to see an over the top revenge movie with Keanu Reeves and a lovable dog, and that’s exactly what I got.

14

I’m actually shocked, SHOCKED, at the disappointment with this film. I had no expectations, but I was pleased quite a bit for an action shooter. The fact that he double taps, or at least gives the guy a second head-shot to confirm the kill seemed logical and real for someone with such almost super-human abilities.

The dog scene was gut-wrenching and almost turned me off, but the revenge-porn aspect of it I thought was well executed.

15

Um, despite the American name, Keanu had enough Russian mob tats on his back.

Declan

16

Movie started out slow for me, not really knowing what to expect. But it was like a turbine spooling up, and did not stop until the end movie credits.

Gotta love a movie that has a Greyjoy and a Lovejoy in it.

Declan

17

Just saw this. It was decent for an action flick. It’s not like comic book action films test the boundaries of filmmaking. Keannu didn’t bother me, and I liked the recognizable faces and the hints of a deeper back story. I like that the gun play didn’t take as many liberties with reality like many other genre films do. Qualified thumbs up.

18

Just watched this movie today and I was pleased.

Was it Oscar worthy? No, it wasn’t supposed to be. Was it original? No, not really. It was at it’s core a basic revenge flick.

What was nice was the the aura that the John Wick character has. People fear him, even the biggest toughest crimelords and their goons. That is where a lot of the fun is in. The whole idea that the big bad guy is pissed at his son for bringing John Wick in to their lives, because he knows how badass John is.

I loved the action and the gunfights. I loved the efficiency in which John kills. Gut shots then head shots. Thorough and effective. No shot was really wasted. It was just mindless gun shooting.

I liked it. End of story.