Superb cast, great script and incredible action

Director: Chad Stahelski

Starring: Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe, Dean Winters, Adrianne Palicki, Omar Barnea

Running time: 101 mins

Rating: 15

Release date: April 10th, 2015

Keanu Reeves’ ex-stunt double Chad Stahelski makes his directorial debut with JOHN WICK, bringing Reeves back onto the big screen as an ex-assassin being dragged back into his past to dole out some serious punishment. Sound familiar? I thought so, too. After the recent run in cinema of this tired set-up (I’ve written reviews on other, recent action titles which could be summarised with a tired, wearied yawn), I went into JOHN WICK with low expectations. The cast list impressed, but I’d been burnt elsewhere with the promise of a brilliant cast in a mediocre action film in past weeks. I spent the first 15-20 minutes of JOHN WICK sinking into the realisation that I was, unfortunately, correct in my preconceptions with its tired set-up and clichéd script.

Then something incredible happened.

The film kicked into top gear, and from then on I had an incredible time with Keanu and the supporting cast. As I mentioned, I had been wary of the brilliant cast lulling me in, but Blimey Charlie – each performer is brilliant in every moment they spend on the screen, and they know exactly what the project requires of them. I find this so rare of an action flick, but the script is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny, and all the actors know this and deliver with excellent comic precision.

It is obvious that Stahelski comes from the background he does, as the action throughout this film is simply incredible. The sequences are brutal, fresh, and so fun to watch. He refuses to give us lazy action in making each shot average out at around half a second, so as a result I watched long action sequences that I felt were genuinely bringing something new to this genre of cinema. I was really left feeling as if the film tried its hardest to impress and entertain me, and I felt so grateful to Stahelski for this.

Like I mentioned above, the set-up is entirely unoriginal and recycled. But the production team really do something new with it: the characters all behave in an entirely convincing manner, and the decisions they make are the ones we would in their place. I was genuinely left guessing as to what was going to happen next, which seems so rare for an action movie.

I also have to applaud Director of Photography Jonathan Sela (LAW ABIDING CITIZEN, MAX PAYNE), as this is an absolutely beautiful film. There are no half-measures in the mood of JOHN WICK’s shooting: the film’s use of colour is incredibly full on and relentless. The set-up is Wick’s greyness in the mourning of his wife set against stark maroons and yellows of the Russian mobsters. Once Wick comes back on to the criminal scene, the entire film becomes a fight between flashing blues and reds in some truly stunning set pieces that Reeves and co. get to smash, shoot, and crash through.

Stahelski gives Sela fantastic reign over these scenes, but doesn’t stop there: the soundtrack that pumps through the entire film is non-stop, exciting, and (I hate to use this term, but I cannot think where else it is more true than here) really, really cool. Added to that, they’ve cast some of the best, craggy faces in cinema (Dafoe, Nyqvist, McShane) that look so good in this big screen success. I tried to remember the last time I enjoyed an action film with such a witty script, funny characters, and gripping action. The closest I could get to was LUCKY NUMBER SLEVIN, but for me, JOHN WICK surpasses even that unique little gem.

I have to end this before I get carried away and slap five stars on to JOHN WICK. Four stars for one of the best times I’ve ever had watching action on the big screen.

Verdict

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