'John Wick' review by Captain Raptor

'John Wick' review by Jake Boyle

The role of John Wick could hardly be any more suited to Keanu Reeves unless it turned out the character's middle name was '...dude'. A man of few words, understated emotion and forever decked out from head to toe in black - casting must have been a no-brainer. It's been a while since Keanu had a foray into mainstream box office fare (and even longer since he had a good one), but this particular post-Taken action thriller seems to have put everybody's favourite expressionless hero back on the map.

As well it should. John Wick is a well-oiled, tightly engineered machine, establishing character and motivation within the opening 15 minutes and then letting the film's plethora of goons and assassins just get on with it. The expertise of stunt actors turned directors David Leitch and Chad Stahelski is evident; every blow resonates, every gunshot excites. The action comes thick and furious, and barring a laughably machismo final showdown, it's all very well-paced, engrossing and at a level of brutality that's neither overkill or underwhelming. The ideas behind the film fall on an indeterminable location between interesting and cheesy (a man's desire for bloody vengeance fueled by the loss of his dog, a hotel that exclusively caters for a secret society of assassins), and the whole 'dead wife' backstory is becoming teeth-gratingly tiresome with every 'new' iteration, but John Wick knows what kind of film it is and smartly chooses to focus on its claustrophobic fighting environments, bloody headshots and minimal dialogue. 

This is all carried not so much by Reeves' angsty stoicism (although his performance is perfectly fine) but by a plethora of supporting characters who do most of the emotional and expository heavy lifting, as much as there is any. Ranging from acclaimed character actors like David Patrick Kelly and Willem Dafoe to fresh-faced TV stars like Alfie Allen and Adrianne Palicki, it's these people who craft the dark and forboding atmosphere with solid performances all around, mostly based on how absolutely terrified they all are of John. Helping to shape the mood is focused cinematography courtesy of Jonathan Sela, who frames the setpieces wonderfully and tracks the movement and flow with a sharp eye for the most enthralling angles. It's a wisely compacted film, so some of the more eye-rolling moments don't have the breathing room to become truly annoying, and the occasional more consciously stylistic moments are suggestive of a film that's making a genuine effort with its visuals and technique.

John Wick's action (and the features that work to enhance that such as camerawork and lighting) are excellent. The acting and the story are good enough. Leitch and Stahelski have crafted a memorable and invigorating massacre of a film (although perhaps an overly serious one), that pulls no punches and only rarely strays into the territory of the exaggeratedly ridiculous. The upcoming sequel is needless and sounds like a bad idea, but that's to no detriment of this movie, which wears its heart on its sleeve and pulls it off extremely well.