Motives for revenge? A few are dogging him
There are no good guys in “John Wick,” but there are some great actors working alongside Keanu Reeves in his darkest and most tormented role yet: a stunningly lethal contract killer who goes on a rampage after a Russian thug kills his dog. Yes, his dog.
If you can stomach the setup, then the rest is pure revenge-movie gold, with Reeves reminding us what a compelling action star he can be. Meanwhile, Chad Stahelski, who served as Reeves’ stunt double in “The Matrix,” makes a remarkably satisfying directorial debut, delivering a clean, efficient and incredibly assured thriller.
Stahelski stepped into Brandon Lee’s shoes on “The Crow” and spent the next two decades absorbing all the behind-thescenes lessons that make “John Wick” such a technically impeccable film. Whereas the tendency among many other directors is to jostle the camera and cut frenetically in the misguided belief that confusion generates excitement, the duo understand what a thrill well-choreographed action can be when we’re able to make out what’s happening.
And that’s why Reeves serves as just the right star to play Wick, a short-fuse antihero whose ridiculous moniker (borrowed from screenwriter Derek Kolstad’s grandfather) clumsily conveys his explosive temper. There’s nothing clumsy about the actor who plays Wick, however, as Reeves’ lithe physicality enables extended sequences in which he moves athletically through an environment full of adversaries, shooting, stabbing or otherwise
MPAA rating: Running time: Opens: Friday immobilizing them one at a time.
Basically, the plot’s idea is to mislead audiences into believing that Reeves’ character is a mild-mannered family man, compressing the preceding few months of personal tragedy into a montage in which Wick visits his wife (Bridget Moynahan) in the hospital, attends her raindrenched funeral (where former colleague Marcus, played by Willem Dafoe, makes an ominous appearance) and weeps upon receiving her final gift: an already-trained puppy named Daisy.
This intro doesn’t exactly position Wick as someone Russian mobsters would refer to as “the Boogey Man,” but, of course, everyone in the theater already knows what’s coming. Far from fooling anyone, this mopey opening merely provides an awkward bit of melodrama to get past before the carnage can com- mence, which it does soon enough. “Game of Thrones” goon Alfie Allen, playing Iosef, the bratty son of a Russian crime boss, improbably shows up at a rural gas station and offers to buy Wick’s prized 1969 Boss Mustang. When Wick declines, the punk and his friends decide to break into his house and help themselves, beating Wick with baseball bats, smashing his things, snapping the poor dog’s neck and taking the Mustang on their way out.
Clearly, “John Wick” isn’t set in the real world, but rather in the sort of heightened parallel dimension that gamers use for target practice, where they must constantly be on guard as goons pop up. With long greasy hair and wispy facial hair, Reeves isn’t as tough or intimidating as your typical revenge-movie antihero, but his star persona helps to make the film more fun — or at least a lot less bleak — than downbeat classics such as “Rolling Thunder” and “Get Carter.” All that violence won’t bring Daisy back, but it helps to clear enough space in Wick’s cold-blooded heart for another dog. Maybe he’s not so bad after all.