REVIEW: John Wick (15)

Mr Keanu Reeves is back on our screens after a number of mediocre movies - but is this one any better? Looking a lot more mature these days, Keanu is John Wick, an ex-assassin who has retired from that world and settled down with a beautiful wife and wants a peaceful life. However this all gets turned upside down when the son of his former employer, Iosef Tarasov, steals his classic car and kills his dog a few days after his wife dies.

Basically this is a revenge thriller over the killing of a puppy.

To sum up the movie in one sentence such as this would not do it justice though because, when all is said and done, it's not actually a bad movie. The first few moments define his really boring new life and I defy you not to fall in love with the adorable puppy. His wife is beautiful too, but both adorable characters are killed off within the first ten minutes of the film. After a brief Top Gear style rag around of his car on an airport runway (for no apparent reason) the movie knocks up a notch into the revenge movie territory where John Wick goes after the son of his former employer. We know nothing of this man at this point except a) he's cut up over his wife dying, b) he doesn't let his dog sleep on the bed and c) he makes a decent cup of coffee. When the ex-employer, Viggo Tarasov, finds out that his son has killed John Wick's dog, he merely goes "Oh" and hangs up. In this movie phone calls are very one sided. It pretty much puts the dampener on everything when he explains that John Wick is the man you call when you want to get the Bogeyman. Cue this very man going after this man's son and him too. In order to save his son from total annihilation (Wick's use of a gun is very good indeed - he doesn't waste bullets) he puts a bounty of $2million to anyone who can kill him. A few people step up to the plate (including the son who at his best runs through a night club in a towel screaming) to try and claim this bounty. Among them are Wick's friend, Marcus (Willem Dafoe) who agrees to kill him for this ransom but instead decides to put the sniper gun to good use to help him. There's also half a gangster squad and the very beautiful Ms Perkins (Agent of SHEILD's Adrianne Palicki) who goes to get him too. A few other famous faces pop up over the time including Ian McShane and John Leguizamo to round off quite a good talented cast. The story is good enough and some of the visuals are interesting to say the least. Subtitles that are in English when the gangsters speak (I believe it is a form of Russian) are scattered across the screen in different colours but are affected by what's on the screen. For example there's one scene where there's a sniper leaning against a slanted wall and the subtitles are slanted to reflect this. Also certain scenes in certain places are hues colourfully as if a lens or Instagram filter has been placed on the screen. Although it doesn't really detract from the movie, these  are little touches that give it a bit of character. The film itself is a generally dark thriller with some interesting fight scenes and gun toting.

Overall this movie is worth a watch - there are better movies out there, but it's good enough to keep you interested and pass the time.

John Wick is out now at all good cinemas in the UK and is actually out to buy if you are over in the US.

POPSCORE: 7.8/10

SECOND OPINION:

Clare came to see it with me and she says:

John Wick .............. very good, not excellent..... Keanu looking very fine! .............. rating = 8/10. :-) ;-) & let's not 4get Keanu was river phoenix's best friend! ; -) POPSCORE: 8/10 

What am I talking about? The movie John Wick

Where can I find out more? http://www.johnwickthemovie.com/

If you like this try: Taken (mainly the first one, but possible the second and third), The Equalizer (the Denzel movie), Run All Night, Constantine

Anything else?
It's Keanu Reeves' sixth time playing a role named John.