The American action movie John Wick (2014) was a brilliant directorial debut for first-rate stuntmen Chad Stahelsky, who once duplicated Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, and David Leitz, Brad Pitt’s permanent understudy since the Fight Club.
Ecstasy for a perfectionist
In the film, the leading role was played by the unsurpassed Keanu Reeves, who also acted as the executive producer of the project and the Swedish actor Michael Nyquist. It was not easy for professional film critics to express their attitude to the action movie “John Wick” (the reviews about the film are very contradictory), the fact is that the tape looks perfectly holistic. All the action scenes of the action movie were prompted by the perfectionists to experience ecstasy: each bullet fired hit the head neatly, every action was flawless, every phrase was verified and appropriate, it was simply unrealistic to throw or change something. Therefore, the movie "John Wick" reviews are mostly laudatory, and the rating in the IMDb version: 7.20.
Screen version of a non-existent comic book
Despite the abundance of violence on the screen, filmmakers, analyzing the action movie “John Wick”, left the correct reviews for the film, did not position the picture as “nuclear chernukha”. On the contrary, experts compared the tape with the film adaptation of a non-existent comic book, since the entire timing is saturated with a fabulous aesthetic, and not only visual. The plot, in which a whole criminal mythology is erected, is also saturated with the spirit of the comic. The film takes place in some parallel reality, in which there are two clans of killers, and there is a criminal infrastructure - hotels for hired killers, a service dealing with the disposal of corpses, doctors, almost trade unions.
Professionally aggressive noir
The critics called the professionalism of the authors, who managed to transform the cocky action of the frankly tabloid genre, into a gloriously staged and thoroughly aggressive noir, an advantage of the John Wick action movie. The creators correctly identified the "center of gravity" of their own creation. The cinema dramaturgy of the project does not know halftones: it is exclusively white and black (between them at the turn, without parting from a sniper carbine, Wille Defoe lurks). As described by John Wick, the comments of contributing authors: humor is stern, dialogues are scarce but informative, women are beautiful, men are brave and desperate, but mortal. This film, beautiful in its simplicity, could turn out to be a trap for director-debutants, since such archetypal material rarely causes lively spectator emotions. Fortunately for the directors, two main factors worked in the movie: the author's sense of genre and measure and the fame of the invited movie stars. Keanu Reeves, in the role of a lone killer, convincingly proved that such militants really “work out” only with truly charismatic movie actors.
Comeback for the "cleaners"
As already mentioned, the project received mostly positive reviews. According to the version of the Rotten Tomatoes website, the film earned an average score of 6.8 out of 10. In the interpretation of the Metacritic site, the picture was rated at 67 points out of 100, based on 36 reviews from critics. Leaving reviews on John Wick, cinema experts were not shy in expressions. So, Peter Travers from Rolling Stone, noting the expressive acting, put the project three out of four stars. More generous was Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian, who rated the action movie four stars out of five. Richard Corliss said that "the essence of action tapes is inexorable action, and the brainchild of Stahelsky and Leitch follows this goal with a merciless drive."
The lead actor was nominated for Golden Raspberries in the Reputation Award category. Many reviewers expressed special gratitude to the screenwriters for returning “cleaners” to the movie screens. The criminal profession, which Tarantino easily gained in the 90s with widespread popularity in the cinema, today is practically a relic of the past. Therefore, moviegoers felt that “John Wick” can be regarded not only as Kian Reeves' comeback, but also to people who are necessary in some circumstances.
Casting cast
The creators invited Keanu Reeves to this role solely to make his character look cool. Therefore, the actor made full use of his proprietary trick - he destroyed enemies with a completely unflappable physiognomy. His physical fitness surprises even the most sophisticated action-packed fan.
Mikael Nyukvist was convincing in the role of a civilized Russian mafioso, even learned a couple of curses in the native language of his character.
Ian McShane was magnificent in a couple of scenes in the image of the owner of Continental, representing, according to the authors' idea, a decadent concentration of vices. Miss Perkins, in an exciting performance by an American, Adrianne Paliki, attracted the attention of viewers several times. Alfie Allen, the same Theon Greyjoy from Game of Thrones, reincarnated into the notorious villain Joseph Tarasoff.
Hero's return
At the end of winter 2015, Chad Stahelsky and David Leitch testified that they were preparing to start work on the sequel to the film. The premiere of the second part took place in the last month of the winter of 2017.
“John Wick 2” (2017) received spectator reviews even more enthusiastic than the original picture. Its success is confirmed by the amount of box office receipts, which exceeded the mark of $ 165 013 205 with a production budget of $ 40 000 000. The first film, created by the efforts of two new director-debutants, just hit the mark and filled the almost empty genre sphere. Simple in semantic load, but verified, the footage of the 2014 project flawlessly entered the context of a modern action movie, without speculating on existing brands and audience nostalgia. “John Wick 2”, although it was shot only by Stahelsky, did not hit his face in the mud, became an excellent sequel, and therefore received a rating even higher than the original action movie - IMDb: 8.10. Chad Stahelsky tripled the dose of everything that the viewer liked so much in the first film. After the premiere of the sequel “John Wick 2”, reviews of the film noted the same spectacular glossy visualization, dynamic editing, virtuoso combat choreography and organically looking in the frame Keanu Reeves.
New classic
According to reviews, the reviewers were pleased with the creation of many branches based on the original plot, the complexity of the narrative structure and the change in the motives of the protagonist. If in the first part the hero of Reeves was driven by a thirst for revenge, then in the sequel he is involuntarily drawn into the unfolding action due to the hopeless situation that has developed at first glance. The vulnerability of the character and the mortal danger looming over him are felt more tangibly. The plot of the picture is undoubtedly more complicated, and the tension has reached sky-high heights. Almost from the first minutes, the viewer is given to understand that the toys are over: the rate of skirmishes and brawls increases, blood spills more often and more abundantly, and Reeves, despite his 52 years of age, performs such tricks that he simply cannot believe it. Keanu performed almost all the tricks on his own, handling firearms, as an experienced agent of the special forces. No wonder the actor trained with instructors for six months.
Acting Ensemble
It is impossible not to mention that in the project of C. Stahelsky and D. Leitch, Keanu appeared again with the American actor Lawrence Fishburne. It was these two performers who previously shone in the Matrix trilogy of the Wachowski brothers. Viewers after watching the action movie "John Wick" (2017) wrote reviews inspired by the creators for the reunion of the legendary film duet. Other characters, according to film experts, were not distinguished by anything special. Nobody reached the level of mastery declared by Daniel Dafoe, who played in the original film of John's friend, Marcus. The main antagonist, the head of the Italian criminal group Santino De Antonio (Riccardo Scamarchio), turned out to be a vile and power-hungry schemer, but he did not reach the level of a memorable, bright villain. His mute assistant, part-time bodyguard Ares (Ruby Rose) did not stand out in anything special in the entire assortment of Santino's accomplices. The actress, of course, is gifted with charisma, but this time Rose practically did not show her.
High praise from critics
As a result, “John Wick 2” (film 2017) received critical reviews from critics. On the Rotten Tomatoes professional critics' movie reviews site, his percentage score reaches 91, which indicates the overwhelming majority of positive reviews. Chris Nashavati, Entertainment Weekly contributor, said his compliment for the film was the loss of a corpse account during the first minutes of timekeeping. His judgments are supported by Tom Huddleston, Time Out reviewer, urging viewers to lean back and enjoy speed, tricks, and style.
Scott Mendelson, a Forbes journalist, recognizes the film as one of the most excellent, stylish, professionally delivered action films of the action genre. Den of Geek continues the thought of the previous reviewer, saying that the 2017 film is as close to true cinema as possible for paintings of this genre.